EVAs in March

[GordonD]

26 MARCH

 

No EVAs on this date.

[GordonD]

27 MARCH

 

1996 Rich Clifford & Linda Godwin (STS-76/Mir)

 

Duration 6 hr 2 min

 

This was the first EVA conducted from a Shuttle Orbiter while it was docked to Mir (and thus the first US EVA outside a space station in over 22 years). The astronauts exited the spacecraft using the hatch in the tunnel adapter, giving them twice the room in the airlock chamber as was normally available. They had to use a new design of tether hooks as the standard model was not large enough to fit over Mir's handrails. They also used a new foot restraint that could accommodate both US and Russian boots. Aside from testing this new equipment, the astronauts' task was to install space exposure experiment packages on the exterior of Mir's Docking Module and to gain experience for future ISS assembly activities. It had been agreed beforehand that the astronauts would not venture beyond the DM to avoid the risk of damaging the antenna and other structures on Kristall.

 

Clifford's only EVA; the first for Godwin

 

 

[GordonD]

28 MARCH

 

2005 Leroy Chiao & Salizhan Sharipov (ISS Expedition 10)

 

Duration 4 hr 30 min

 

The astronauts installed three communications antennae on the Zvezda Module, which would be used by the ESA's Automated Transfer Vehicle when delivering supplies and equipment. Sharipov then manually deployed a German nanosatellite to test new sensors and other systems: Russian controllers were able to confirm they were receiving a good signal. The astronauts also installed the Global Positioning Receiver, another device that would be used by the ATVs. 

 

Sixth and last EVA for Chiao, giving him a career total of 36 hr 4 min. Second and last EVA for Sharipov: his total is 9 hr 58 min.

[GordonD]

29 MARCH

 

2018 Drew Feustel & Ricky Arnold (ISS Expedition 55)

 

Duration 6 hr 10 min

 

The astronauts installed wireless communications equipment on the Tranquillity module to enhance payload data processing for the ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) experiment. They also swapped out high-definition video cameras on the port truss and removed ageing hoses from a cooling component on the station's truss.

 

Seventh EVA for Feustel; third for Arnold.

 

 

2019 Nick Hague & Christina Koch (ISS Expedition 59)

 

Duration 6 hr 45 min

 

The original plan was for this to be the first all-female EVA but it was discovered that both women needed the same size of space-suit and only one of those on the station was in operational condition. Hague therefore replaced Anne McClain on this spacewalk. The astronauts replaced three more of the station's old nickel-hydrogen batteries with the more powerful lithium-ion type. It had been discovered that one of the new batteries installed during the EVA on 22 March was not charging properly, so they carried out preparatory work that would enable the Dextre robot to disconnect it and replace it with the older model for the time being. In addition, the astronauts also completed several tasks to prepare for a future EVA that would continue the battery upgrade programme. Hague inspected the portable foot restraint sockets on the P6 Truss while Koch installed fabric handrails.

 

Second EVA for Hague; first for Koch

 

[GordonD]

30 MARCH

 

2017 Shane Kimbrough & Peggy Whitson (ISS Expedition 50)

 

Duration 7 hr 4 min

 

The astronauts hooked up electrical and data cables to the Pressurised Mating Adapter which had earlier been transferred from the Tranquillity to Harmony Module, ready for the arrival of the commercial cargo freighters. They also installed thermal shields over the Tranquillity port where the PMA was previously located. Three of the shields were fitted without incident but the fourth was accidentally lost. After some consultation Mission Control advised the pair to use the cover from the PMA itself, which Whitson had removed earlier in the EVA. This worked and the port was safely protected both thermally and from physical damage from micrometeoroids and orbital debris. Finally Whitson installed a different type of shield on the PMA, nicknamed 'the cummerbund' as it fitted round the circumference of the adapter.

 

Sixth and last EVA for Kimbrough: his career total is exactly 39 hours. Eighth EVA for Whitson: she is the only woman to make this many.

 

[GordonD]

31 MARCH

 

No EVAs on this date.