Related MediaJan 28, 2021 11:46:15 IST
Spacewalking astronauts encountered a cable problem on Wednesday while trying to make improvements to the International Space Station’s European laboratory. Only one of the two laboratory upgrades was completely successful. NASA’s Mike Hopkins and Victor Glover installed a new antenna on Columbus, one of three high-tech laboratories at the orbit. It took a couple of attempts by scientists in Europe to find the right version. No longer needed, the boxy antenna cover was thrown on board.
“Here we are now. Counting down: 3-2-1,” Glover radioed as he safely landed away from the space station.
NASA astronaut Victor Glover dances his space suit and prepares to leave the ISS for a spacewalk. Image credit: Twitter @Astro_Jessica
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Elsewhere on the lab, Glover couldn’t put all the power and data cables on a science research platform that has been waiting for action for nearly a year. He managed to tie four of six cables. They did a good study of flowing power, enabling part of the platform to be used.
But fasteners on two cables would not close all the way, and those had to be capped. Engineers will try to create an approach for a future spaceway, so that the entire platform can be tested.
SpaceX delivered the platform called Bartolomeo to the space station last spring. The shelf was mounted by the station’s robot arm but they had to wait to spacecraft Wednesday to engage.
Airbus, built and run by Bartolomeo, is looking to sell space on the platform for private research projects. This is the first commercial venture in Europe outside the station.
.@Astro_Illini and @AstroVicGlover they completed a spacewalk today at 1:24 pm ET after installing a new science antenna and then preparing the station for future power system upgrades. More … https://t.co/31plsfOck2 pic.twitter.com/g1I3mlwJHE
– International Space Station (@Space_Station) January 27, 2021
Danish astronaut Andreas Morgensen led the spacewalks from Mission Control in Houston, where controllers were wearing masks and sitting apart due to the pandemic. The spacewalk lasted seven hours.
Hopkins and Glover make a second spacewalk Monday to complete a battery upgrade to the station’s solar-powered grid. The latest spacewalk was the third for Hopkins and the first for Glover.
They are part of the second SpaceX flight launched in November. The docked Dragon capsule was shown on NASA TV during the spacewalk.