EVAs in April

[GordonD]

26 APRIL

 

1984 Leonid Kizim & Vladimir Solovyov (Salyut 7 Expedition 3)

 

Duration 4 hr 56 min

 

The cosmonauts began repair work on the oxidiser leak in Salyut's main propulsion system. Kizim secured himself to the ladder installed on the previous EVA, while Solovyov placed his boots in the foot restraints on the platform attached to the Progress freighter. They then began peeling back thermal blankets and cutting through the station's plastic skin to reach the oxidiser plumbing. They then tried to replace a valve but found that a nut was locked by epoxy resin, which took around two hours to release. Once the new valve was installed the system was pressurised with nitrogen but it was found that there was still a leak. The EVA was extended while the cosmonauts worked on the reserve line but the task was still incomplete when they were ordered back inside.

 

Second EVA for both cosmonauts.

[GordonD]

27 APRIL

 

No EVAs on tis date.

[GordonD]

28 APRIL

 

No EVAs on this date.

[GordonD]

29 APRIL

 

1984 Leonid Kizim & Vladimir Solovyov (Salyut 7 Expedition 3)

 

Duration 2 hr 45 min

The cosmonauts became the first Soviet team to perform three EVAs during a single mission. They continued their efforts to repair the leak in Salyut's propulsion system, installing a bypass line between two fill tubes, thus creating a new conduit to the oxidiser supply. Once this task was complete, nitrogen was again pumped through the system to check its integrity but to the dismay of all the plumbing still leaked. The thermal blankets were replaced and the cosmonauts returned to the station while engineers on the ground resumed their efforts to pinpoint the exact location of the problem.

 

Third EVA for both cosmonauts.

 

 

1997 Vasili Tsibliyev & Jerry Linenger (Mir Expedition 23)

 

Duration 4 hr 57 min

 

This was the first EVA to be carried out jointly by a Russian and US crew member. Both men wore the new upgraded Orlan-M space-suits, which had been delivered by Progress M-34: the most noticeable change was the addition of a 'porthole' on top of the helmet. The pair used the Strela boom to reach the Kristall Module where they installed the Optical Properties Monitor, then returned to Kvant 2 to remove a US experiment which would be returned to Earth with Linenger aboard Atlantis. Finally they installed a radiation dosimeter.

 

Back on Earth, Linenger noted several differences between the US and Russian approach to EVA work. The Russian training was more generalised and not task-specific, with the philosophy appearing to be, "We've trained you, you know how to use your suit, just go do it." The timeline was not so crucial, leading to the cosmonauts often working through orbital night to make up for lost time. The helmet lights were adequate for work at a particular spot but not for finding the way across the hull. Mir was equipped with fewer handholds and tether points than the Shuttle, and because the exterior of the station was convex, unlike the Shuttle's concave cargo bay, it gave the feeling of "falling at 18,000 miles per hour." There was little or no interaction between the EVA crew and Lazutkin aboard the station.

 

Sixth and last EVA for Tsibliyev, giving him a total of 19h 10 min; the only one for Linenger.

[GordonD]

30 APRIL

 

No EVAs on this date.