Two
astronauts will step outside the International Space Station tonight to add new
experiments to the orbiting laboratory's hull, including one to aid an ongoing
investigation into recent Russian Soyuz spacecraft glitches.
Space
station commander Michael Fincke of NASA and Russian cosmonaut Yury Lonchakov are
due to float outside the station in Russian-built Orlan spacesuits at about
7:10 p.m. EDT (0010 GMT) and spend just over six hours working outside.
"I will go
out the door first," Fincke said in a video message last week. "It's going to
be very exciting."
Their first
task is the installation of a Langmuir probe, an instrument that will monitor
the plasma environment near a Soyuz docking port on the station's Russian-built
Pirs docking compartment.
The tool is
designed to give engineers in Russia more information on the plasma environment
near the docking port, which is suspected to be responsible for explosive bolt
malfunctions on two of the last
three Soyuz spacecraft to return astronauts from the space station. Russian
engineers believe electrical arcs near one
of the bolt locations caused it to fail during module separation on those
landings, which sent the Soyuz vehicles to land off-target and subjected their crews
to higher gravitational loads.
"This
actual task was added as a direct consequence to the commission to understand exactly
what happened with the Soyuz," said Kirk Shireman, NASA's deputy space station
program manager.
In addition
to the plasma probe, Lonchakov and Fincke will attach two experiments, EXPOSE-R
and Impuls to the exterior to of the station's Russian Zvezda module.
The EXPOSE-R
experiment is a joint project between the European Space Agency and Russia's
Federal Space Agency to understand how organic materials behave in the vacuum
of space. The Impuls experiment is a tool aimed at studying the plasma
environment of Earth's ionosphere.
"This
[spacewalk] is going to expand our science capability," said space station
flight director David Korth.
Lonchakov
and Fincke also plan to retrieve a canister-like Biorisk container filled
bacteria and fungi as part of a study on how changes in solar activity
affect their growth.
Flight
controllers also want the astronauts to close a loose insulation flap and
reposition a misaligned space exposure experiment. If extra time is available,
the astronauts may also conduct a photo survey of the space station's Russian segment
with a focus on a navigation antenna that failed to work properly during a
recent cargo ship's arrival.
Today's work
outside the space station will be led by Lonchakov, who will make his first spacewalk.
It will be the fifth spacewalk for Fincke, who is commanding the space station's
Expedition 18 mission. Their third crewmate, NASA astronaut Sandra Magnus, will
remain inside the space station during the spacewalk.
Fincke said he was looking forward to trying out the new helmet lights for his
Russian-built Orlan spacesuit, which he emblazoned with an American flag shoulder
patch.
"I'm proud to
be an American working on station and it's really cool working with the Russian
partners," Fincke said last week. "I'm glad they trust me with one of their
suits to help out with the plan."
NASA
will broadcast tonight's spacewalk live on NASA TV beginning at 6:30 p.m. EDT (2330
GMT). Click here for a link to SPACE.com's
NASA TV feed and International Space Station mission updates.
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