That spacewalk is set to begin about 10:45 a.m. EDT.
Stay tuned to this page for updates throughout the day. Our next update will offer a brief preview of the spacewalk and be posted about 10 a.m. EDT.
Final spacewalk begins early
Monday, Oct. 14, 2002 at 10:12 a.m. EDT
Spacewalking veterans Dave Wolf and Piers Sellers clearly are getting used to preparing for their extravehicular activities as today's third and final spacewalk of the Atlantis mission has begun early. Official start time: 10:11 a.m. EDT.
Soon after the deployment of a heat-dispelling radiator panel at 4:01 a.m. EDT today, the spacewalkers began suiting up for this last 6.5-hour sortie outside and stepped through their tasks with ease and familiarity learned from their spacewalks on Saturday and Thursday.
They have four jobs today, with the first being to remove a bolt that has been stuck on the S0 truss since that grider was installed in April. The bolt prevented the accidental firing of a cable cutter during the shuttle launch that carried the truss into space and must be removed in order for the entire truss assembly to become fully activated.
If the bolt cannot be freed this time, the entire bolt cutting device will be removed and replaced with an identical unit in a complicated process that will take about 90 minutes.
Once that work is done the trio of activities remaining includes installing additional clamp-like devices on some quick disconnect valves, hooking up some final ammonia lines and removing the large metal pins that held the S1 truss securely in place within Atlantis' cargo bay.
You are invited to follow along with the spacewalk by watching NASA TV. A link to our feed of the agency's television channel is available above. During the spacewalk Wolf will be wearing the suit with red stripes. Sellers' suit has no markings.
Stay tuned to this page for periodic updates throughout the day. We expect to post our next update at about Noon EDT.
Work outside is moving fast
Monday, Oct. 14, 2002 at 12:00 p.m. EDT
After beginning the final planned spacewalk of the mission about 30 minutes early, the first major task for this EVA didn't even have to be performed so Dave Wolf and Piers Sellers are well ahead of their timeline.
The job they didn't have to do, and which would have taken about 90 minutes to accomplish, involved replacing a cable cutting device on the S0 truss that was installed at the station in April. A balky bolt that prevented the cable cutter from accidentally firing during launch had resisted all previous attempts to remove it.
Cranking up his power tool to a higher setting of torque than had been used before, Wolf easily removed the bolt.
Wasting little time, the pair have moved on to other activities and done so in an almost leisurely pace, taking time to point their helmet cameras at different angles and taking pictures.
At this hour they are working to connect ammonia lines between the newly installed S1 truss, and the original S0 truss.
Stay tuned to this page for updates throughout the day. Our next update will be posted about 2 p.m. EDT.
Final major task in work
Monday, Oct. 14, 2002 at 2:15 p.m. EDT
With today's spacewalk right at the four-hour mark, Dave Wolf and Piers Sellers are working on their final major task of the day -- removing the big metal pins that held the S1 truss securely inside Atlantis' cargo bay during launch one week ago.
Other work related to the truss assembly's ammonia plumbing system and the removal of a bolt that's part of the Mobile Transporter system that carries the station's robot arm up and down the truss assembly was all complete with minimal difficulty.
The spacewalkers have been moving with a relaxed pace since the successful bolt removal meant they did not have to do a 90-minute task that Wolf had considered the most complex of anything they were to do during the entire three spacewalks.
As this is the last spacewalk there will be a little bit more time spent on clean up outside before the two are expected back inside, which should happen within the next two hours.
We will update this page again when the spacewalk has officially concluded.
One non-mission-related note for local Space Coast residents: Boeing officials say they are still on schedule for hot firing the Delta 4 rocket at pad 37 right around 4 p.m. EDT this afternoon. The wet dress rehearsal is going well and launch managers remain hopeful they will be able to ignite the main engines for a few seconds with the rocket remaining bolted to the pad.
Spacewalk No. 3 is officially complete
Monday, Oct. 14, 2002 at 4:55 p.m. EDT
The third and final spacewalk of this STS-112 mission is complete and has been declared a complete success.
Ending unofficially at 4:46 p.m. EDT, the duration of today's extravehicular activity was six hours and 36 minutes.
Dave Wolf and Piers Sellers accomplished everything set on their plate today, plus a little bit more, and did so with apparent good fun as they took time to take in the view and beam back some incredible television pictures captured by their helmetcams.
If per chance they should read this account of their mission when they return to Earth, for the record: thanks for a great show today. Very cool.
During today's spacewalk the pair took care of a balky bolt that had given their colleagues troubles since April, handled some duties related to the ammonia plumbing system, released and stowed some hardware that helped hold the S1 truss during its ride to space inside Atlantis' cargo bay and took care of a few extra miscellaneous chores.
Still ahead for the combined crews is another relatively quiet day on Tuesday. In addition to some time off and performing the usual housekeeping duties, last minute packing will be done as the shuttle is prepared for its planned departure from the orbiting complex on Wednesday.
In other urgent space news, Boeing's Delta 4 has not yet fired its main engines as part of a countdown test at pad 37. The test reached the T-minus 38 second mark, alarms went off and the countdown stopped. Boeing has until 6 p.m. EDT to finish the test and ignite the engines.
We'll post a wrap-up story early this evening and our next update to this box will come midday Tuesday.
Quiet day in space
Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2002 at 12:00 p.m. EDT
The combined shuttle and station crews don't have much on their plate today, but then again they aren't floating around twiddling their thumbs either.
Having completed nearly all of the tasks scheduled for the time shuttle Atlantis was docked to the International Space Station -- including attachment of the S1 truss and three spacewalks -- the astronauts and cosmonauts were given most of the day off today.
Each of the nine humans were scheduled for a turn exercising on the newly replaced treadmill in the Zvezda service module, plus there was the usual assortment of housekeeping duties such as eating meals, which in microgravity still takes some time and effort.
There are some final things the crews need to do this afternoon -- packing and such -- before Atlantis can undock from the station Wednesday morning.
Unless events warrant otherwise, this will be our only update in this space for today. Stay tuned to this page for a daily story later this afternoon and then check back here early Wednesday for full coverage of the shuttle's undocking and fly around.
Hatches swing shut as crews say good bye
Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2002 at 7:20 a.m. EDT
Hatches between the International Space Station and shuttle Atlantis were closed this morning at 7:15 a.m. EDT as preparations continue for undocking.
Before the doors were shut the six Atlantis crewmembers bid farewell to the three Expedition Five crewmembers in an emotional scene with lots of hugs and plenty of tears.
In a welcome gesture of openess, the crew left a microphone on during their good byes so you could see and hear the whole exchange live on NASA TV. Amid the traditional thanks and well wishes, mission specialist Sandy Magnus summed up the touching moment by telling her friend, space station science officer Peggy Whitson, "I didn't know it was going to be so hard."
The next event is the actual undocking, which is expected at 9:13 a.m. EDT. Springs will give the initial push to separate Atlantis and the orbiting outpost, then steering jets will be fired by shuttle pilot Pam Melroy to back the spaceplane away to a distance of about 450 feet.
At that point Melroy will begin a fly-around of the station so Atlantis crew members can take pictures of the station's new look and Melroy can get some practice flying the shuttle -- training she will put to good use when assigned to command her own mission some day.
Stay tuned to this page for confirmation of undocking in about two hours.
Atlantis departs space station
Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2002 at 9:15 a.m. EDT
Shuttle Atlantis has undocked from the International Space Station after a one-week stay that saw the successful installment of a new 45-foot-long, 15-ton truss to the orbiting complex.
"Atlantis departing," said station science officer Peggy Whitson as she rang the ship's bell from within the Unity node.
The undocking came at 9:13 a.m. EDT as the two ships flew 245 miles above the Russian-Ukranian border.
Atlantis pilot Pam Melroy is at the controls of the spaceplane and will be maneuvering the shuttle to a point about 450 feet in front of the station.
At that point Melroy will begin a fly-around of the station so Atlantis crew members can take pictures of the station's new look and Melroy can get some practice flying the shuttle -- training she will put to good use when assigned to command her own mission some day.
That fly-around is expected to begin at 9:59 a.m. EDT and take about an hour to complete, with the final separation maneuver scheduled for 11:04 a.m. EDT.
Live and tape-delay views of the undocking and fly-around will be aired on NASA TV during the next couple of hours, giving us a good look at how the station appears with its new S1 truss installed. If you can tune in it should be pretty spectacular. A link to our online feed is above.
We will update this page again following the final separation burn in about two hours.
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