Seven-Hour Spacewalk A Success

Astronauts Nearly Complete Repair On Solar Panel; But Worries About Urine Reprocessing System

(AP)  Spacewalking astronauts completed almost all of the greasy repairs on a gummed-up joint at the international space station on Saturday, leaving just a few chores behind for another day.

As spacewalk No. 3 was getting under way 225 miles up, a new recycling system for converting urine into drinking water broke down again.

It was the third day in a row that the urine processor inexplicably shut down, and it appeared to be the same kind of sluggish motor trouble seen before. Engineers on the ground scrambled to figure out what might be wrong. The problem could jeopardize NASA's plan to return recycled water to Earth aboard space shuttle Endeavour next weekend.

The $154 million water recycling system, delivered a week ago by the space shuttle, is essential for allowing more astronauts to live on the space station next year.

Mission Control wanted to keep Saturday's spacewalk close to the seven-hour mark and, six hours in, told the astronauts to wrap up what they were doing and start heading back in. The remaining chores - cleaning and greasing one final section of the joint and installing the one more bearing - will be squeezed into the fourth and final spacewalk of the mission Monday. That's when astronauts will grease up the good rotary joint on the left side of the orbiting complex.

The astronauts got started on the unprecedented clean and lube job - and bearing replacements - on Tuesday.

Mission Control wanted to keep Saturday's spacewalk close to the seven-hour mark and, one hour out, told the astronauts to wrap up what they were doing and start heading back in. The remaining chores - cleaning and greasing one final section of the joint and installing the one more bearing - will be squeezed into the fourth and final spacewalk of the mission Monday. That's when astronauts will grease up the good rotary joint on the left side of the orbiting complex.

"We really appreciate how hard you're all working," Mission Control radioed. "I know it's painful to call it quits like that, but we think it's the right thing to do."

Their spacewalk lasted just three minutes shy of seven hours, enough to make it the longest of the mission - barely.

"Welcome back aboard our beautiful space station," said skipper Mike Fincke.

Stefanyshyn-Piper - who lost a $100,000 tool kit during Tuesday's spacewalk - had to share grease guns again with Bowen. To make up for the grease gun shortage, they took out a caulking gun normally reserved for repairs to the shuttle's heat shield, but didn't need it.

They carefully guarded all their tethers so nothing would get loose.

"OK. Tether, tether, tether," Stefanyshyn-Piper counted before moving on to another task. "Three tethers, and they're all closed."

As for the broken urine-recycling system, flight controllers and astronauts alike were disappointed when it stopped working again Saturday. Mission Control radioed up the bad news just before the spacewalk began.

"I'm very sorry to hear that," astronaut Sandra Magnus replied.

Mission Control said interference between the speed sensor and the motor might be causing the motor to hang up.

The rest of the recycling equipment was working fine, aside from a minor glitch or two, and the two crews created more condensation in order to collect some drinking water samples from that. The astronauts turned off the air conditioner on the Russian side of the space station, cranked up the heat in the docked shuttle, and waited for condensation to form on equipment in the American compartments.

Even though there would be no samples of urine-converted water, at least there would be samples of processed condensation, said flight director Brian Smith.

NASA wants samples of the recycled water returned aboard Endeavour in order to conduct tests and ensure that it's safe to drink. The equipment is supposed to run for at least 90 days before anyone takes a sip.

The space agency cannot expand the size of the space station crew from three to six unless the water recycling system is working. NASA still hopes for that to happen by June.

Endeavour is supposed to leave the space station on Thanksgiving, but its departure could be put back a day in order to collect enough samples from the recycling equipment.

For more information on Shuttle Mission 126, visit the NASA Web site.

[displeased]

So what are they doing in their pressurized tube, knitting sweaters?
Posted by kevinkkloste

They''re probably doing something that you aren''t capable of comprehending. You just leave the research to the educated ones and you keep sitting on the couch watching football.

[displeased]

But in reality these things would have come about without NASA and all their wasted money.
Posted by kevinkkloste

If NASA doesn''t do it, somebody else will. Would you rather Russia or China take the lead with space exploration and research? Would that make you feel safer?

[panton41-2009]

See if they didn''''t create computers I couldn''''t make stupid remarks. I would probably be sitting in front of the TV, having a beer and watching football.
But in reality these things would have come about without NASA and all their wasted money.

Posted by kevinkkloste at 10:05 PM : Nov 23, 2008

That football game you''re watching was probably transmitted to your local station via satellite. Now try and tell me your day would have happened without NASA research.

[downtowner97]

The worst part is, NASA is dealing with problems the Soviets conquered in the eighties. Mir was an awesome space station, and didn''t need a $154 urine-to-water machine.

The Soviets got bored with going around in circles in the late nineties since there was NOTHING LEFT TO LEARN. The Mars robots have furthered human knowledge far beyond anything we ever learned from having greasy-haired people in orbit pooping into a vacuum cleaner.

[rushlimpdrug]

wow, NASA is apparently being run by the guys that
can''t hang curtains.

Incidentally, I noticed when that ding-bat lady
astronaut "jerked off the tool" no mention was
made of velcro.

Hope they like the taste or urine and toothpaste
in the morning.

[downtowner97]

How much would it cost to send 154 million bottles of Dasani to the space station aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket?

[guadalcanal3]

kevinkkloste...You say: "NASA should be abolished."...What has NASA ever done to you except give you computors (so you can make stupid remarks ''online'') NASA is one of the greatest organizations ever created by man..Only a person with no imagination and lacking any kind of creativity at all would make such an ignorant remark.

[cheteunice]

Is it a success because Stefanyshyn-Piper didn''t lose more tools?

[evian_ycnan]

If they need a urine recycling machine, just send a bunch of Evangelicals and Christian conservatives; they`ve been drinking their own bathwater for centuries.

[eddom949]

Use the $800 toilet seat!

[incog-nito]

Well if the water tastes funny, they''ll know right away there''s something wrong with the urine reprocessing system.

[caco58]

Bearing replacement?? Billions of dollars invested and they don''t use low friction greaseless bearings. Wow Somebody was asleep that day

[marcosis78]

Yes, we should never know what is actually out there because religion is the ONLY way. *end sarcasm*