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EVAs in February


GordonD

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1 FEBRUARY

 

1990 Aleksandr Viktorenko & Aleksandr Serebrov (Mir Expedition 5)

 

Duration 4 hr 59 min

 

This was the first test of the SPK, the Soviet equivalent of the Manned Manoeuvring Unit. Serebrov remained securely attached to the station by a 60m tether, since unlike on McCandless's MMU trial on STS-41B, Mir was not capable of coming to the rescue should he become stranded. The tether was attached to a winch which had been mounted on the previous EVA: this automatically took up slack in the tether to prevent tangling. Serebrov initially flew the SPK out 5m and back, three times, then increased the distance to 33m and carried out various manoeuvres. As he approached Mir to terminate the EVA, Serebrov realised that he was approaching the magnetic docking cradle off course and when he attempted to correct this the tether made him flip backwards but this was no cause for concern and the test was considered a complete success.

 

Fourth EVA for both cosmonauts.

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2 FEBRUARY

 

2018 Aleksandr Misurkin & Anton Shkaplerov (ISS Expedition 54)

 

Duration 8 hr 13 min (Russian record)

 

The cosmonauts installed a new electronics and telemetry box for the high gain antenna on the Zvezda module to enhance communications between Russian flight controllers and the Russian segment of the station.

 

Fourth and last EVA by Misurkin; his career total is 28 hr 14 min; second and last by Shkaplerov; his total is 14 hr 28 min. Both cosmonauts are still on active flight status so any future EVAs would add to these totals.

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3 FEBRUARY

 

1974 Gerald Carr & Ed Gibson (Skylab 4)

 

Duration 5 hr 19 min

 

Under the original schedule the final Skylab mission was to have lasted 56 days and include two EVAs, the second merely to retrieve all the film from the Telescope Mount. The success of the previous missions prompted NASA to extend the flight to 84 days and add two EVAs. On this, the final EVA from Skylab, a total of sixteen tasks were carried out. The astronauts used a transfer device nicknamed 'the clothesline'to move film and other equipment between the ATM and the airlock. They also completed Earth atmosphere photography and attached a Micrometeoroid Particle Collection experiment on the exterior of the ATM, in the hope that it could be retrieved by an early flight of the Space Shuttle. During the EVA, Gibson's suit cooling system sprang a leak but he switched it to the minimum setting and was able to complete the scheduled tasks.

 

Third and final EVA for both men: Carr's total is 15 hr 48 min; Gibson's, 15 hr 20 min.

 

 


2006  William McArthur & Valeri Tokarev (ISS Expedition 12)

 

Duration 5 hr 43 min

 

This EVA was originally scheduled for December but postponed to allow more time for preparations. They wore Russian Orlan space-suits and exited through the Pirs airlock. The first task was to jettison an old suit that was no longer required: this had been fitted with internal sensors and a ham radio transmitter. For a few days, until the batteries ran out, it broadcast a recording of children's voices and greetings in six languages. "Suit-Sat", as it was nicknamed, remained in orbit for a few weeks before burning up in the atmosphere. The astronauts then relocated a grapple fixture from Zarya and reconnected a mobile transporter cable which had been accidentally severed on a previous EVA. Finally they retrieved the Biorisk exposure experiment and photographed various parts of the station's exterior.

 

Fourth and last EVA for McArthur: his career total is 24 hr 21 min; second and last for Tokarev: his total is 11 hr 5 min.

 

 


2016 Yuri Malenchenko & Sergei Volkov (ISS Expedition 46)

 

Duration 4 hr 45 min

 

The cosmonauts installed and retrieved a number of science experiments and conducted extensive photography of the external surfaces of the Russian segment of the ISS.

 

Sixth and last EVA for Malenchenko: his total is 34 hr 50 min; fourth and last for Volkov: his is 23 hr 20 min. Both cosmonauts are still on active flight status.

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4 FEBRUARY

 

2007 Michael Lopez-Alegria & Sunita Williams (ISS Expedition 14)

 

Duration 7 hr 11 min

 

Following on from their EVA on 31 January, the astronauts returned to the 'rats' nest' and retrieved the second obsolete coolant loop. They then installed the second set of two winch bars and six cable cinches to secure the P6 radiator. They also photographed the P6 solar array in preparation for its retraction during the STS-117 mission in March, then carried out further work on the Space Shuttle Power Transfer System (SSPTS) cables, which would allow the Orbiter to draw power from the station's solar arrays. Finally, as they were running slightly ahead of schedule, they had time to remove a sunshade from a a data-relay device called the multiplexer-demultiplexer, a task intended for a future EVA.

 

Lopez-Alegria's eighth EVA; Williams' third.

 

 

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5 FEBRUARY

 

1971 Alan Shepard & Ed Mitchell [LSEVA] (Apollo 14)

 

Duration 4 hr 49 min

 

This was the first of two Lunar Surface EVAs carried out by the Apollo 14 crew. The LM had landed at Fra Mauro, the target for the aborted Apollo 13 mission: original plans were to send 14 to the Littrow region but Fra Mauro was seen as more interesting from a scientific basis. The start of the EVA was delayed by 49 minutes due to communication problems but finally America's first man in space set foot on the Moon. Mitchell joined him and the astronauts collected a contingency soil sample then set up the TV camera (taking care not to repeat the error made on Apollo 12 by pointing it at the Sun), the S-band antenna and the US flag. Because the Apollo 12 crew had problems identifying who was who in photographs, Shepard's suit had red stripes at the knees and shoulders. (Jim Lovell's suit also had these markings on Apollo 13 but of course no surface photos were taken on that mission.) The astronauts deployed the ALSEP experiments abour 150m west of the Lunar Module, then set up the laser reflector a further 30m beyond that, The EVA was extended by 30 minutes to compensate for the late start but finally the astronauts returned to the LM to eat and rest. In all they had covered a distance of around 550m.

 

First EVA for both astronauts.

 

 


1990 Aleksandr Viktorenko & Aleksandr Serebrov (Mir Expedition 5)

 

Duration 3 hr 45 min

 

This was a further test of the SPK manoeuvring unit. Before flying it, Serebrov attached a device called Spin-6000 to measure the radiation background produced by atomic particles striking Mir's hull. He then backed away to a distance of 45m and carried out an aerobatic roll, in all covering a total of 200m. On returning to Mir he needed help from Viktorenko to dock with the SPK's cradle as his view was obscured by the Spin-6000. Afterwards, Head of Cosmonaut Training Vladimir Shatalov said that the SPK would be used for "practical purposes" though he did not go into detail. In fact, the unit would not be used again: it remained stored inside Mir until February 1996 when it was moved back outside until the station re-entered and burned up in March 2001.

 

Fifth EVA for both cosmonauts.

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6 FEBRUARY

 

1971 Alan Shepard & Ed Mitchell [LSEVA] (Apollo 14)

 

Duration 4 hr 46 min

 

Second Moonwalk on Apollo 14. The goal was to walk to the rim of Cone Crater, a distance of about 3km: estimated to be the longest distance for astronauts to traverse on foot while carrying out sampling operations on the way while still maintaining a safety margin. They were assisted in this by the use of the Modularized Equipment Transporter, a two-wheeled device resembling a golf trolley which carried their sampling tools and other equipment. However as the EVA progressed the astronauts became unsure of their exact location: there was of course no danger of them becoming lost, as they simply had to retrace their own footsteps to get back to the LM, but when they approached what they thought was the crater rim they found another rim beyond it. They were also becoming physically exhausted: Shepard's heart rate reached 150 at one point and with oxygen running low Mission Control decided to abandon the attempt. Later analysis of photographs from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter showed they had actually come within about 30m of the rim. However the EVA was not a complete failure: some 10kg of rock and soil samples were collected (more than 43kg over the two EVAs) including one rock, nicknamed ;Big Bertha', which analysis proved was very likely to be a terrestrial meteorite around four billion years old. Before re-entering the LM, Shepard carried out one of the most famous lunar surface activities when he attached the head of a six iron golf club to the handle of an excavation tool and produced two golf balls from a suit pocket, then played two shots, swinging one-handed because of the restrictions of movement caused by his space-suit. After the first shot, Mission Control commented that they thought he had sliced it, but at the time Shepard claimed that the second one had gone "Miles and miles and miles!" but later admitted that the actual distance was around 400m.

 

Second and final EVA for both astronauts: total time on the surface for each man was 9 hr 35 min.

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7 FEBRUARY

 

1984 Bruce McCandless & Robert Stewart (STS-41B)

 

Duration 5 hr 55m

 

This was the first test of the Manned Manoeuvring Unit, carried out by Bruce McCandless, who had been heavily involved in its design and development over many years. An early version had been flown on Gemini IX-A but was never put into operation because Gene Cernan became dangerously overheated and exhausted when he tried to activate it. Another type had been put through limited paces inside the Skylab Workshop but this was the first time it had been flown in its design environment. The test involved a rehearsal for the retrieval of the ailing Solar Max satellite, planned for the next mission, and began with McCandless moving away from the Orbiter and returning, three separate times. The greatest distance he reached was about 100m and one of the photos of him hanging in space has become iconic. The unit's propellant usage turned out to be higher than anticipated, and aboard Challenger Vance Brand noted that the MMU's tracking lights would be inadequate for McCandless to be seen during orbital night and ordered him to return to the payload bay before the spacecraft passed into darkness. When McCandless got back, Stewart attached a Trunnion Pin Attachment Device between the MMU's arms: this was to be used to snare Solar Max. McCandless practiced docking with a mock-up target. Stewart then took his turn at testing the unit, taking it out to a distance of 93m, though Brand noted that he was travelling too fast and warned him to slow down. McCandless also tested the foot restraint at the end of the Orbiter's manipulator arm and found it more stable for EVA work than expected.

 

First EVA for both astronauts.

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8 FEBRUARY

 

1996 Thomas Reiter & Yuri Gidzenko (Mir Expedition 20)

 

Duration 3 hr 6 min

 

First task was to move the SPK manoeuvring unit from the Kvant 2 airlock, where it had been sitting unused since 1990, outside for permanent storage. Its bulk had been causing problems on every EVA and it had been finally decided to move it out of the way. Gidzenko then used the Strela crane to move Reiter across to the Spektr module, then joined him to help with the removal of two dust collector experiments. It had originally been planned to retrieve them on the next mission, but Expedition 20 had been extended by 44 days, allowing Reiter to retrieve the collectors he had installed himself back in October.. The cosmonauts also attemoted to remove a malfunctioning antenna but were unable to do so with the tools they had so the EVA, intended to last five and a half hours, was cut short.

 

Second EVA for Reiter; second and last for Gidzenko: his career total duration is 3 hr 35 min

 

 


2007 Michael Lopez-Alegria/Sunita Williams (ISS Expedition 14)

 

Duration 6 hr 40 min

 

The astronauts used the CETA carts to transfer equipment to the P3 Truss then removed and jettisoned thermal shrouds from the Rotary Joint Motor Controllers and from the truss itself. Williams then detached two launch locks from the P5 Truss, in preparation for the attachment of the P6. The two astronauts connected four more cables to the Space Shuttle Power Transfer System and photographed communications cables.

 

Ninth EVA for Lopez-Alegria; fourth for Williams (first woman to make this many)

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9 FEBRUARY

 

1984 Bruce McCandless & Robert Stewart (STS-41B)

 

Duration 6 hr 17 min

 

The astronauts carried out further tests of the MMU. The plan this time was for the Orbiter to release a target satellite which would then be set rotating slowly so they could rehearse the capture of the Solar Max, which was also in a slow spin. Unfortunately a malfunction of the manipulator arm meant that the target could not be deployed and this part of the EVA had to be cancelled. The astronauts practiced instead with a fixed target. Stewart then peformed a fluid transfer experiment, in anticipation of a possible future role for the Shuttle as a satellite fuel tanker, using Freon dyed red for visibility in place of hydrazine. During the EVA a foot restraint worked loose and drifted off, but Vance Brand was able to manoeuvre Challenger to enable McCandless to retrieve it. When Mission Control remarked that he had saved the restraint from re-entering the atmosphere in a few days, McCandless quipped that he hoped it would be--along with the rest of the Orbiter and crew!

 

Second and final EVA for both astronauts: total time 12 hr 12 min.

 

 


1995 Michael Foale & Bernard Harris (STS-63)

 

Duration 4 hr 39 min

 

Preparations for this EVA took longer than normal, as it was not possible to reduce the cabin pressure beforehand because of sensitive experiments in the Spacehab module. As a result the 'prebreathe', in which the astronauts become accustomed to the lower pressure in their space-suits, took four hours. When they finally emerged from the airlock, the astronauts began tasks aimed at developing techniques for assembling the International Space Station. The crew had already seen what could be achieved as Discovery had earlier made a close approach to Mir, a rehearsal for the historic first docking. Now, they used foot restraints at the end of the manipulator arm while Russian cosmonaut Vladimir Titov raised them 9m above the payload bay for a 'cold soak' test of the space-suits' new heating facility, with the Orbiter pointed away from the Sun during daylight and towards deep space in orbital night. This was not completely successful as the astronauts rated the temperature as level 3 on a 1 to 8 scale devised before launch. Mission Control therefore cut short this phase of the EVA, though not before the astronauts had passed the SPARTAN free-flyer pallet back and forth between them to evaluate manipulating bulky objects in microgravity. 

 

First EVA for Foale; the only one for Harris

 

 

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10 FEBRUARY

 

2001 Thomas Jones & Robert Curbeam (STS-98/ISS)

 

Duration 7 hr 33 min

 

This was the first of three EVAs to attach the Destiny Module, the main US research facility, to the ISS. After Marsha Ivins had used the manipulator arm to remove the Pressurised Mating Adapter from the Unity Module and temporarily stowed it on the P1 Truss, she lifted Destiny out of the cargo bay and manoeuvred it into position. Jones and Curbeam then began connecting electrical, data and coolant lines. During this procedure, a small amount of ammonia leaked out, so to avoid contamination Jones brushed off their space-suits while Curbeam remained in direct sunlight for thirty minutes to vaporise any remaining crystals. At the end of the EVA the airlock was partially pressurised then vented again to carry away any last traces, while as a final precaution the remaining Shuttle crew members wore oxygen masks for twenty minutes.

 

Second EVA for Jones; first for Curbeam 

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11 FEBRUARY

 

2008 Rex Walheim & Stanley Love (STS-122/ISS)

 

Duration 7 hr 58 min

 

First of three EVAs to install the ESA's Columbus Module. It was originally scheduled for the previous day, with Hans Schlegel working alongside Walheim, but due to a medical issue it was delayed by twenty-four hours and Love assigned instead. The task began with the installation of a grapple fixture and the removal of window and berthing covers, followed by the disconnection of heating cables. The module was then lifted out of the cargo bay by the ISS's manipulator arm and transferred to its location on the station's starboard side. The EVA ended with the loosening of the bolts attaching the ISS's nitrogen tank, which was due to be replaced.

 

Third EVA for Walheim; first for Love.

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12 FEBRUARY

 

2001 Thomas Jones & Robert Curbeam (STS-98/ISS)

 

Duration 6 hr 50 min

 

Further tasks to connect the Destiny Module to the ISS. Aboard Atlantis, Marsha Ivins used the manipulator arm to detach the Pressurised Mating Adapter (PMA) from its temporary stowage place on the P1 Truss and transfer it to its permanent location. Jones and Curbeam then connected data and power cables then removed a protective cover from Destiny's window and installed a shutter. Finally they installed handrails and other equipment for use on future EVAs.

 

Third EVA for Jones; second for Curbeam

 

 


2010 Robert Behnken & Nicholas Patrick (STS-130/ISS)

 

Duration 6 hr 32 min

 

First of three EVAs to install the Tranquillity Module. The astronauts removed protective covers and unplugged cables linking the new unit to the Orbiter, after which it was lifted out of the cargo bay by Terry Virts and Kathryn Hire aboard the ISS. Behnken and Patrick then hooked up heater lines and avionics cables.

 

Fourth EVA for Behnken; first for Patrick

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13 FEBRUARY

 

2008 Rex Walheim & Hans Schlegel (STS-122/ISS)

 

Duration 6 hr 45 min

 

Whatever issue had prevented Schlegel from accompanying Walheim on an EVA three days earlier, as planned (possibly space-sickness, though NASA would not specify) appeared to have been resolved, as he came across as fully capable of carrying out his tasks on this, the second stage of attaching the Columbus Module. The nitrogen tank on the P1 Truss was removed and transferred to the Orbiter's cargo bay for return to Earth. The astronauts also installed trunnion covers on Columbus and made minor repairs to the Destiny Module's debris shield.

 

Fourth EVA for Walheim; the only one for Schlegel.

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14 FEBRUARY

 

1997 Mark Lee & Steve Smith (STS-82)

 

Duration 6 hr 42 min

 

STS-82 was the second mission dedicated to maintenance of the Hubble Space Telescope and this was the first of five EVAs towards that goal. With the telescope captured by the manipulator arm and lowered into the cargo bay, Lee and Smith prepared to leave the Orbiter but the start of the EVA was delayed by several minutes after one of Hubble's solar arrays windmilled through a quarter of a turn and bounced back. It was later determined that this had been caused by the air being vented from the airlock. When they eventually got outside, the astronauts were lifted by the manipulator arm to their work site, where they removed the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph, a device the size of a fridge-freezer, which had suffered a partial electrical system failure shortly before. It was replaced by the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph. The Faint Object Spectrograph, last of the telescope's original science instruments, was also removed, to be replaced by the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS). Mission Control determined that both of the new instruments were operating and handed them over to the astronomers for calibration. During the EVA, the astronauts noticed that yellow paint was flaking off the telescope's handrails, leading to concern that this might contaminate the inner components.

 

Second EVA for Lee; first for Smith

 

 


2001 Thomas Jones & Robert Curbeam (STS-98/ISS)

 

Duration 5 hr 25 min

 

Third and final EVA to connect the Destiny Module. With much of the work already completed, the main task was to ensure that all electrical and data cables had been hooked up correctly. The astronauts also attached an auxiliary S-band communications antenna and checked out the solar array. The EVA ended with them practising carrying an incapacitated crew-member back to the airlock.

 

Fourth and last EVA for Jones: his career total is 21 hr 41 min; third for Curbeam.

 

 


2010 Robert Behnken & Nicholas Patrick (STS-130/ISS)

 

Duration 5 hr 54 min

 

Second EVA to connect the Tranquillity Module. During the first four hours, the astronauts hooked up two ammonia loops: each consisted of two fluid lines and was strung from Destiny, through brackets on Unity and finally connected to Tranquillity. With this task complete, Behnken mounted an insulation cover over Tranquillity's keel pins, then removed launch locks to allow for the attachment of the Cupola on the next EVA. Meanwhile Patrick was installing eight handrails and the exhaust valve of an atmospheric control and resupply system.

 

Fifth EVA for Behnken; second for Patrick

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15 FEBRUARY

 

1997 Greg Harbaugh & Joseph Tanner (STS-82)

 

Duration 7 hr 27 min

 

Second EVA of the Hubble servicing programme. The astronauts replaced a worn-out Fine Guidance Sensor and installed enhanced electronics, then replaced a failed data recorder with a solid-state device that could record and play back simultaneously. This could store ten times the amount of data as its 1970s-vintage analogue predecessor. The astronauts spotted a small impact scar on one of the telescope's antennas, caused by orbital debris, but this did not affect performance. They also detected scattered cracks in the Teflon outer layer of Hubble's thermal insulation blankets.

 

Second EVA for Harbaugh; first for Tanner.

 

 


2008 Rex Walheim & Stanley Love (STS-122/ISS)

 

Duration 7 hr 25 min

 

With this EVA the installation of the Columbus Module was completed. The astronauts attached a Sun monitoring package and a space environment exposure package, both ESA experiments, to the exterior of Columbus, and also mounted nine handrails, two foot restraint sockets and a keel pin cover. Finally they photographed a handrail on the Quest Airlock, where a sharp edge was suspected of having caused minor damage to a space-suit glove on a previous EVA.

 

Fifth and final EVA for Walheim: his career total is 36 hr 23 min; second and final EVA for Love: his total is 15 hr 23 min.

 

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16 FEBRUARY

 

1997 Mark Lee & Steve Smith (STS-82)

 

Duration 7 hr 11 min

 

Third Hubble maintenance EVA. Lee and Smith replaced a second reel-to-reel recorder with a solid state device and also installed a new Reaction Wheel Assembly in place of a failed unit, one of four used to point the telescope. They also examined the cracked insulation that had been spotted the previous day. Mission Control decided to add a fifth EVA to the schedule in an attempt to deal with this problem.

 

Third EVA for Lee; second for Smith

 

 


2011 Dmitri Kondratiyev & Oleg Skripochka (ISS Expedition 26)

 

Duration 4 hr 51 min

 

Though the cosmonauts were using Russian space-suits, these were fitted with NASA-provided helmet lights and cameras providing live video to both Moscow and Houston Mission Controls. The pair installed two experimental packages on the exterior of the Zvezda Module: one to gather data for seismic forecasts; the other to study gamma and optical radiation during thunderstorms. They also retrieved a space exposure experiment from the Zarya base-block.

 

Second and final EVA for Kondratiyev: his career total is 10 hr 14 min. Third and final EVA to date for Skripochka: he is currently on-orbit aboard the ISS but has no EVAs scheduled before his return to Earth; his total is 16 hr 41 min.

 

 

 
2012 Oleg Kononenko & Anton Shkaplerov (ISS Expedition 30)

 

Duration 6 hr 13 min

 

The cosmonauts used the Strela-2 crane to move its predecessor, Strela-1, from the Pirs to the Poisk Modules. This activity had been scheduled for the previous August but was called off due to time constraints. They then installed a new space exposure experiment on Poisk, then collected a sample from the underside of the Zvezda insulation blanket, which would be examined for traces of living micro-organisms. Further tasks, including the installation of debris shields on Zvezda, had to be postponed to a future EVA as time was running short.

 

Third EVA for Kononenko; first for Shkaplerov.

 

 


2018 Mark Vande Hei & Norishige Kanai (ISS Expedition 54)

 

Duration 5 hr 57 min

 

The astronauts moved a Latching End Effector (LEE) from the manipulator arm to a long-term storage location, for future use as a spare part, and brought a second one inside the ISS for return to Earth, where it would be refurbished and later relaunched as a second backup. Other tasks included the lubrication of the inside of the LEE which had been installed during the 23 January EVA, the installation of a grounding strap on one end of the arm, and adjustment of a strut on a component on one of the station’s spare parts platforms. 

 

Vande Hei's fourth and final EVA to date: his career total is 26 hr 42 min. Kanai's only EVA.

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17 FEBRUARY

 

1997 Greg Harbaugh & Joseph Tanner (STS-82)

 

Duration 6 hr 34 min

 

Fourth EVA dedicated to Hubble maintenance. The astronauts replaced the jury-rigged magnetometer covers installed on the previous servicing mission, STS-61, in 1993. They also swapped out the Solar Array Drive Electronics unit, handling bolts and connectors that had not been designed for on-orbit replacement. Finally they attached spare insulation blankets to cover the damage that had been spotted on the previous EVA.

 

Third and final EVA for Harbaugh (career total 18 hr 29 min); second EVA for Tanner.

 

 

 

2010 Robert Behnken & Nicholas Patrick (STS-130/ISS)

 

Duration 5 hr 48 min

 

Prior to the start of this EVA, the Cupola had been moved by manipulator arm to its final home on the side of Tranquillity. Now, Behnken and Patrick completed the installation, starting by running ammonia through the second fluid line and installing handrails and foot restraints, then connecting heater and data cables. The insulation covers were removed from the Cupola's windows, as were the launch locks securing their shutters. Finally, they connected cables between the S0 Truss and the Zarya Module, allowing the ISS's manipulator arm to be operated from the Russian portion of the station.

 

Sixth and final EVA (to date) for Behnken: his career total is 37 hr 33 min; third and final EVA for Patrick: his total amounts to 18 hr 14 min.

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18 FEBRUARY

 

1997 Mark Lee & Steve Smith (STS-82)

 

Duration 5 hr 17 min

 

Fifth Hubble maintenance EVA. This was not scheduled but was added to the flight plan after cracks in the telescope's insulation had been spotted earlier. Because they only had a limited supply of patches, the astronauts concentrated on three areas where the damage was worst, leaving the remainder for a future mission. The new thermal blankets were wired in place, after which the astronauts waited in the airlock while Mission Control investigated a possible problem with one of Hubble's Reaction Wheel Assemblies. The Orbiter was carrying a spare and if it had been necessary a sixth EVA could have been carried out to replace it, but ultimately it was decided there was no need for this. Later, Edward Weiler, one of the Hubble's Project Scientists, said that so many upgrades had been carried out over the two servicing missions that it was effectively a new telescope that could be called Hubble 2.

 

Fourth and final EVA for Lee: his career total is 26 hr 1 min; third EVA for Smith.

 

 

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20 FEBRUARY

 

1992 Aleksandr Volkov & Sergei Krikalev (Mir Expedition 10)

 

Duration 4 hr 12 min

 

The EVA ran into problems from the start, when Volkov's suit heat exchanger became clogged, forcing him to remain by the Kvant 2 module. He was still able to assist with the installation of various space exposure experiments, after which Krikalev moved away to carry out the remaining tasks by himself. This was in violation of the "buddy system" which required two cosmonauts working together so they could help each other in a crisis, but as EVAs cost 100,000 roubles per hour they were also encouraged to complete them once they had started, despite risks. Krikalev removed Sofora assembly equipment and cleaned cameras on Kvant, then collected an experimental solar array section that was added to the base block top array in 1988. Even working on his own, the EVA took less time than expected.

 

Second and final EVA for Volkov: his career total is 10 hr 9 min; seventh EVA for Krikalev.

 

 


2002 Carl Walz & Daniel Bursch (ISS Expedition 4)

 

Duration 5 hr 47 min

 

This was the first use of the Quest airlock without a Shuttle Orbiter being docked, and also the first EVA from the International Space Station involving two US astronauts. Their task was to prepare for the installation of the S0 Truss by arranging the tools, cables and adaptors that would be required. They also removed four thermal blankets from the exterior of the Z1 Truss and stowed them inside its structure.

 

Third and final EVA for Walz: his career total is 18 hr 55 min; second and final one for Bursch: his is 11 hr 46 min.

 

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21 FEBRUARY

 

2015 Barry Wilmore & Terry Virts (ISS Expedition 42)

 

Duration 6 hr 41 min

 

First of three EVAs intended to reconfigure cabling and other apparatus in preparation for the arrival of new docking adapters, configured to fit the forthcoming Boeing CST-100 and SpaceX Dragon capsules rather than the retired Space Shuttle.

 

Second EVA for Wilmore; first for Virts.

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22 FEBRUARY

 

2007 Mikhail Tyurin & Michael Lopez-Alegria (ISS Expedition 14)

 

Duration 6 hr 18 min

 

Early in the EVA the coolant system in Tyurin's suit malfunctioned, causing his visor to fog up, but this was not serious enough to abandon the operation. After changing out a Russian materials exposure package, the two moved on to their main task: inspection of a rendezvous antenna on Progress M-58, which had failed to retract properly when the freighter docked back in October. It was feared that the antenna would prevent Progress undocking cleanly so the cosmonauts had to try to retract it manually. It was planned to use a hammer and punch to force the stuck antenna back but they found there was insufficient clearance so instead they cut through the support struts and secured it in place with wire ties. This made sure that the antenna would not catch on any part of Zvezda when Progress departed in April. With this task complete the cosmonauts photographed various items of equipment and installed two foot restraints on a ladder on the Pirs Module.

 

Fifth and final EVA for Tyurin: his career total is 25 hr 32 min; tenth and final EVA for Lopez-Alegria: his total is 67 hr 40 min.

 

Lopez-Alegria is the fourth man and first US astronaut to make ten EVAs. His career total is a US record: he is second only to Anatoli Solovyov in overall EVA time.

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25 FEBRUARY

 

2015 Barry Wilmore & Terry Virts (ISS Expedition 42)

 

Duration 6 hr 43 min

 

Second EVA to prepare the ISS for future dockings by the commercial crew vehicles built by Boeing and SpaceX. The astronauts completed the rigging of cables to the Pressurised Mating Adapter, lubricated the grappling fixture on the manipulator arm, and carried out various tasks on the exterior of the Tranquility Module. They also fitted wire ties that would be used to secure cabling to be installed on their next EVA.

 

As the airlock was being repressurised at the end of the EVA, Virts reported seeing a small amount of water floating free in his helmet. There had been no sign of this during the EVA itself and the astronaut was never in any danger.

 

Third EVA for Wilmore; second for Virts.

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