EVAs in October

[GordonD]

1 OCTOBER

 

1997 Scott Parazynski & Vladimir Titov (STS-86/Mir)

 

Duration 5 hr 1 min

 

This was the second EVA to be conducted from a Shuttle Orbiter while docked to Mir (the first had been by Godwin and Clifford eighteen months earlier) but the first to be carried out by US and Russian spacewalkers. Their main task was to attach a 55kg solar array cap to Mir's Docking Module, which would allow the station crew to seal off the damaged Spektr. With this achieved, the astronauts retrieved four space exposure packages; however, a further test of the SAFER jet pack was a failure due to a faulty valve.

 

Parazynski's first EVA; Titov's fourth and last, giving him a total of 18 hr 48 min.

[GordonD]

2 OCTOBER

 

No EVAs on this date.

[GordonD]

3 OCTOBER

 

No EVAs on this date.

 

 

[GordonD]

4 OCTOBER

 

No EVAs on this date.

[GordonD]

5 OCTOBER

 

2017 Randy Bresnik & Mark Vande Hei (ISS Expedition 53)

 

Duration 6 hr 55 min

 

The astronauts replaced one of the Latching End Effectors on the station's manipulator arm, then removed some of the thermal insulation layers from a spare switching unit. They also prepared a flex hose rotary coupler for future use.

 

Third EVA for Bresnik; Vande Hei's first.

 

 

[GordonD]

6 OCTOBER

 

2019 Christina Koch & Andrew Morgan (ISS Expedition 61)

 

Duration 7 hr 1 min

 

This EVA continued the programme of replacing the station's old nickel-hydrogen batteries with smaller but more powerful lithium-ion units. On this occasion two batteries on the P6 Truss were swapped out, the first being removed from its slot and temporarily stowed on a pallet some two hours into the EVA. The new battery was then bolted into place about fifty minutes later, and connected to the station's electrical system with an adapter plate. Things were running ahead of schedule and Mission Control gave the go-ahead to replace the second battery. Once this was complete, the astronauts loosened bolts holding two more batteries, which would be replaced on the next EVA.

 

Second EVA for both astronauts.

[GordonD]

7 OCTOBER

 

2014 Reid Wiseman & Alexander Gerst (ISS Expedition 41)

 

Duration 6 hr 14 min

 

The astronauts' first task was to move a failed cooling pump to the External Stowage Platform next to the Quest airlock. This had already been replaced during an EVA the previous December but had been temporarily attached to the truss. Wiseman then carried out clean-up work where the pump had been located while Gerst replaced a light on an external camera cluster on the Destiny module. The pair then installed a Mobile Transporter Relay Assembly, which would help supply power to the base unit on which the station's manipulator arm was mounted, when it was moving along its rails between worksites.

 

First EVA for Wiseman; the only one for Gerst.

 

* Gerst has flown on two missions (Expeditions 40/41 and 56/57) for a total of 362 days 1 hr 50 min - this is a record for a non-Russian or US astronaut.

 

 

[GordonD]

8 OCTOBER

 

2001 Vladimir Dezhurov & Mikhail Tyurin (ISS Expedition 3)

 

Duration 4 hr 58 min

 

This was the first use of the Pirs Russian airlock/docking module without the presence of a Shuttle Orbiter. The cosmonauts hooked up communication and data cables between Zvezda and Pirs, then mounted an egress ladder, four handrails, a Kurs rendezvous antenna, a docking target and a Strela crane; however there was insufficient time to test the last component.

 

Dezhurov's sixth EVA; Tyurin's first.

 

 

[GordonD]

9 OCTOBER

 

No EVAs on this date.

[GordonD]

10 OCTOBER

 

2002 David Wolf & Piers Sellers (STS-112/ISS)

 

Duration 7 hr 1 min

 

The astronauts began by connecting power, data and fluid lines between the S1 and S0 Trusses. They then released launch bolts on a beam to reorient the S1 radiators, allowing the maximum amount of cooling. Following this, they installed an antenna on the S1 Truss, improving voice communications with ground controllers. Finally they released launch restraints on the CETA transporter cart and fitted a camera on the truss.

 

Second EVA for Wolf; the first for Sellers.

 

 

2017 Randy Bresnik & Mark Vande Hei (ISS Expedition 53)

 

Duration 6 hr 26 min

 

The astronauts' main task was to lubricate the new latching end effector which they had installed on the previous EVA. They then replaced a faulty camera system and a smudged lens cover, and removed two handrails from the exterior of the Tranquility module to make room for a future wireless antenna.

 

Fourth EVA for Bresnik; second for Vande Hei.

[GordonD]

11 OCTOBER

 

1984 Dave Leestma & Kathy Sullivan (STS-41G)

 

Duration 3 hr 29 min

 

This was the first EVA by an American woman, though she was beaten to the title of first female spacewalker by Svetlana Savitskaya in July. Though Savitskaya had performed useful welding tests, most observers saw her EVA as being deliberately planned to beat the Americans to the punch:  more than a quarter of a century after Sputnik 1, the space race was still on in some respects. However, Sullivan too showed that her EVA was no mere stunt: the pair carried out tests of a system for refuelling satellites, using toxic hydrazine. This took around an hour, after which they tested an EVA toolbox and evaluated new spacesuit boots. Finally they manually stowed the Ku-band dish and checked the 10.7m by 2m Shuttle Imaging Radar antenna, which had failed to close properly and had had to be pushed shut with the manipulator arm. The astronauts found that insulation caught between the antenna sections was the probable cause. As they prepared to close out, the airlock hatch's thermal cover came loose and started to drift away, but Bob Crippen manoeuvred Challenger in pursuit and Leestma somersaulted from the cargo bay and caught hold of it. Back inside, once the airlock was repressurised, the astronauts used a vapour detector to make sure their suits were not contaminated by the hydrazine fuel they had been testing.

 

This was the only EVA for both astronauts.

 

 

2019 Andrew Morgan & Christina Koch (ISS Expedition 61)

 

Duration 6 hr 45 min

 

As the astronauts were preparing to exit the station they were given some sad news: Mission Control Moscow advised them of the death of Alexei Leonov, who had made the very first spacewalk back in 1965. The crew promptly dedicated this EVA to his memory. Their task was to replace more of the old nickel-hydrogen batteries with the more powerful lithium-ion type. As the EVA came to an end, the astronauts aboard the ISS paid tribute to the former cosmonaut.

 

Third EVA for both astronauts.

 

 

[GordonD]

12 OCTOBER

 

2002 David Wolf & Piers Sellers (STS-112/ISS)

 

Duration 6 hr 4 min

 

The astronauts installed 22 Spool Positioning Devices on the ammonia-cooling line connections, which would prevent internal leakage from lines streaming ammonia through the Station. They also attached ammonia supply lines to the S1 radiator and mounted the ISS’s second television camera on the Destiny lab. Two additional SPDs were not installed because they did not fit. At the conclusion of the EVA, the astronauts further prepared the CETA cart and other tools needed to install the next starboard truss.

 

Third EVA for Wolf; second for Sellers.

[GordonD]

13 OCTOBER

 

No EVAs on this date.

[GordonD]

14 OCTOBER

 

2002 David Wolf & Piers Sellers (STS-112/ISS)

 

Duration 6 hr 36 min

 

Wolf and Sellers first removed a bolt that restricted the activation of a cable cutter on the Mobile Transporter. The pair then linked ammonia lines and detached the S1 Truss’s launch support clamps. Ahead of schedule, they also installed Spool Positioning Devices on a coolant pump motor assembly. From within the Station, Sandra Magnus and Peggy Whitson, who was a member of the Expedition 5 crew, operated the manipulator arm, which served as a work platform for the spacewalkers.

 

Fourth EVA for Wolf; third for Sellers.

[GordonD]

15 OCTOBER

 

2000 Leroy Chiao & William McArthur (STS-92)

 

Duration 6 hr 28 min

 

This was the final assembly mission before the ISS began permanent occupancy and four EVAs were planned. On this one the astronauts relocated S-band antennas from the Unity node to the newly-attached Z1 Truss, in a bid to solve connection problems. They then hooked up ten umbilical cables between node and truss and installed tools for use on future EVAs.

 

Third EVA for Chiao; McArthur's first.

 

 

2001 Vladimir Dezhurov & Mikhail Tyurin (ISS Expedition 3)

 

Duration 5 hr 52 min

 

The cosmonauts installed a device called Kromka on the exterior of the Zvezda module: this would measure contamination from the RCS jets and its data applied to improvements in the design of future thrusters. They then assembled a small truss and three suitcase-sized experiment packages contracted by NASDA, the Japanese space agency. These would collect micrometeoroids in aerogel and foam substances for later analysis, while also studying paint, insulation and lubricants in space. Finally, as they returned to the airlock, the cosmonauts removed the Russian flag placard and replaced it with an advertising sign for the Kodak company as part of a commercial agreement.

 

Seventh EVA for Dezhurov; the second for Tyurin.

 

 

2014 Reid Wiseman & Barry Wilmore (ISS Expedition 41)

 

Duration 6 hr 34 min

 

The astronauts replaced a faulty regulator on the starboard truss: this relayed power from the 3A solar array and had malfunctioned back in May: since then the station had been operating on seven out of the eight power channels but this restored it to full capacity. The work had to be carried out while the ISS was in orbital night and the solar array was not generating electricity. The pair then replaced a camera on the P1 Truss which had lost its zoom capacity and relocated various pieces of equipment to make room for the Leonardo module, which was due to be transferred to a new position the following year, These included foot restraints and tool holders, as well as a relay unit which received the video pictures during EVAs.

 

Second and last EVA for Wiseman, giving him a career total of 12 hr 47 min; the first for Wilmore.

[GordonD]

16 OCTOBER

 

2000 Peter Wisoff & Michael Lopez-Alegria (STS-92)

 

Duration 7 hr 7 min

 

After Koichi Wakata used the Shuttle's manipulator arm to connect the Pressurised Mating Adapter to the Unity module, the EVA astronauts connected up electrical and data cables, then prepared the Z1 Truss for the installation of the first solar array.

 

Second EVA for Wisoff; Lopez-Alegria's first (he would go on to make ten in all and currently holds the US cumulative duration record).

[GordonD]

17 OCTOBER

 

2000 Leroy Chiao & William McArthur (STS-92)

 

Duration 6 hr 48 min

 

The astronauts installed two electrical converters above the Z1 Truss, enabling proper voltage conversion of the power generated by the solar array. This eliminated heat and electrical buildup that could have damaged equipment. They also reconfigured cabling to the PMA installed the previous day, and fitted a tool storage box on the Z1 Truss.

 

Chiao's fourth EVA; McArthur's second.

[GordonD]

18 OCTOBER

 

2000 Peter Wisoff & Michael Lopez-Alegria (STS-92)

 

Duration 6 hr 56 min

 

The astronauts began by removing a grapple fixture on the Z1 Truss, then deployed a utility tray which would supply power to the Destiny lab when it arrived the following year. They also tested the berthing latches that will hold the new module in place. Wisoff then cycled the capture assembly for the solar array, using a pistol-grip tool which required more than 125 turns to fully open the latches, before closing them again to demonstrate that they were working properly. This done, he carried out the operation a third time to leave them ready for the attachment of the array itself on the next Shuttle flight. With work on the ISS complete, the astronauts tested their SAFER backpacks, which would allow them to return to the station if they accidentally became detached from the structure.

 

This was the final ISS assembly flight before its occupation: the Expedition 1 crew would arrive in a fortnight's time, beginning a human presence in space that has continued until the present day.

 

Wisoff's third and last EVA: his total amounts to 19 hr 53 min. Lopez-Alegria's second.

 

 

2019 Christina Koch & Jessica Meir (ISS Expedition 61)

 

Duration 7 hr 17 min

 

This was the long-awaited first all-female EVA, originally scheduled for March with Koch and Anne McClain; plans were changed because both women needed the same size of spacesuit and only one was available. The task this time was replace a failed Battery Charge/Discharge Unit on the P6 Truss. The astronauts also installed a stanchion on the Columbus module and rerouted a cable. During the EVA the women received a call from President Trump congratulating them on their achievement, though at one point Meir had to diplomatically correct him when he described the EVA as "the first time for a woman outside of the space station".

 

Koch's fourth EVA; Meir's first.

[GordonD]

19 OCTOBER

 

No EVAs on this date.

[GordonD]

20 OCTOBER

 

1988 Vladimir Titov & Musa Manarov (Mir Expedition 3)

 

Duration 5 hr 10 min

 

In July, the cosmonauts had attempted to repair the Dutch-British-Soviet TTM X-ray telescope, but this had been unsuccessful. Now, with the help of new tools and upgraded spacesuits, they tried again. Monitored by a British scientist at Mission Control, they were able to remove the faulty detector--which was not designed for maintenance in space--and replaced it with a new one which had been equipped with handling aids. Though they still had some difficulty sliding the new unit into place, the repair was completed an hour ahead of schedule, giving them time to install a special foot restraint ready for use in the Soviet-French EVA planned for December.

 

Third EVA for both cosmonauts.

 

 

1995 Sergei Avdeyev & Thomas Reiter (Mir Expedition 20)

 

Duration 5 hr 11 min

 

Reiter became the first ESA astronaut (and the second non-Russian/US overall) to perform a spacewalk; the first had been Jean-Loup Chrétien in 1988, who was flying as a member of the French Space Agency. He began the EVA by climbing onto the end of the Strela boom, which Avdeyev then used to transfer him to the Spektr module, then joined him at the work platform. There, they mounted a European space exposure facility and installed two dust collectors, a space environment monitoring package and an electronics control box. The dust collectors had motorised covers which could be operated from within Mir: one would remain open most of the time, being closed only when a visiting craft was in the vicinity, to avoid contamination by attitude thrusters; the other would be opened when the Earth was passing through cometary dust. Yuri Gidzenko, inside Mir, confirmed that the package was working properly; so the cosmonauts moved onto another worksite and replaced exposure cartridges with new ones delivered by Progress M-29.

 

Fifth EVA for Avdeyev; Reiter's first.

 

 

1997 Anatoli Solovyov & Pavel Vinogradov [IVA] (Mir Expedition 24)

 

Duration 6 hr 38 min

 

The cosmonauts entered the depressurized Spektr in an attempt to install three control cables between the solar array servo motors to the special adapter plate that sealed the module from the rest of Mir. After cleaning up some of the debris and loose items in Spektr, Solovyov was able to connect the three cables to the servos. But even after an effort that extended into the emergency oxygen supply of the Orlan space suits, he was only able to connect two of the cables to the adapter plate.

 

Solovyov's twelfth EVA (no-one else has made more than ten); Vinogradov's second.

 

 

2017 Randy Bresnik & Joseph Acaba (ISS Expedition 53)

 

Duration 6 hr 49 min

 

The astronauts installed a new camera system on the manipulator arm and lubricated its end effector grapple fixture, fitted another camera on the starboard truss and replaced a fuse on the Dextre robot. They also fitted a new radiator grapple bar and completed prep work on one of the spare pump modules to enable easier access for potential robotic replacement tasks in the future. Bresnik began working on the second pump module but left the task to be completed at a future time.

 

Fifth and last EVA for Bresnik: his career total is exactly 32 hours. Third and last for Acaba, giving him a total of 19 hr 46 min.

[GordonD]

21 OCTOBER

 

No EVAs on this date.

[GordonD]

22 OCTOBER

 

1993 Vasili Tsibliyev & Aleksandr Serebrov (Mir Expedition 14)

 

Duration 38 min

 

The cosmonauts ran into problems almost immediately when a fault developed in the oxygen flow of Serebrov's spacesuit, and the EVA had to be abandoned. It transpired that the suit had previously been worn thirteen times and had actually exceeded its recommended operational lifetime. Before returning inside, the cosmonauts did have time to inspect and retrieve space exposure experiments and install meteoroid detectors, and spoke with Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, who was visiting the Mission Control Centre. They also began taking photographs for the Panorama survey, but its completion would have to wait for another time.

 

Fourth EVA for Tsibliyev; the ninth for Serebrov.

 

 

2014 Maksim Surayev & Aleksandr Samokutyayev (ISS Expedition 41)

 

Duration 3 hr 38 min

 

The cosmonauts' first task was to remove the obsolete Radiometriya experiment from the exterior of Zvezda: this was jettisoned for later burn-up in the atmosphere. They then removed the cover from the Expose-R experiment before taking a break as the ISS passed through orbital night. Back in sunlight, they took more photographs of the work area before placing the cover in the airlock chamber. They then transferred to the Poisk module and removed two rendezvous antenna which were blocking the way for future EVAs: these too were jettisoned. After a further photographic survey the cosmonauts returned to the airlock.

 

Second and last EVA for both cosmonauts. Surayev's total is 9 hr 22 min; Samokutyayev's, 10 hr 1 min.

[GordonD]

23 OCTOBER

 

No EVAs on this date.

[GordonD]

24 OCTOBER

 

No EVAs on this date.

[GordonD]

25 OCTOBER

 

No EVAs on this date.