STS-108 Day 6 Highlights

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On Monday, December 10, 2001, 6:30 a.m. CST, STS-108 MCC Status Report # 10 reports:

The crew aboard the space shuttle Endeavour was awakened at 6:12 a.m. CST this morning to the sound of ^ÓJumpin^Ò at the Woodside,^Ô performed by Mission Specialist Linda Godwin^Òs own band, Brass, Rhythm and Reeds. Godwin plays tenor sax in this 18-piece big band recording.

The focus of activities aboard Endeavour today will be on the planned four-hour spacewalk to be conducted by Godwin and Dan Tani. Godwin and Tani will exit the shuttle^Òs airlock about 11:24 a.m. and will be carried about half way up the truss of the space station by the shuttle^Òs robotic arm, operated by Pilot Mark Kelly. Commander Dom Gorie will coordinate efforts as the two spacewalkers maneuver hand-over-hand to their worksite location at the top of the P6 truss, some 80 feet above Endeavour^Òs cargo bay.

The prime objective of the spacewalk is to place insulating blankets on the two Beta Gimbal Assemblies (BGA) that control the rotation of the solar arrays as they track the sun. The thermal blankets will protect the BGAs from temperature variances experienced in space, which has been leading to current spikes from the motors inside the BGAs. Once that task is complete, the spacewalkers will perform some get-ahead-tasks including retrieving tools from an outside pouch and bringing them inside for use during a spacewalk on the next mission to the space station early next year.

With hatches between the two spacecraft closed for today^Òs space walk, the Expedition Four Crew, Commander Yury Onufrienko, and Flight Engineers Dan Bursch and Carl Walz will continue transferring equipment and supplies from the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module to the station. This is the crewmembers^Ò first day alone on the space station after exchanging places with the Expedition Three Crew, Commander Frank Culberston, Pilot Vladimir Dezhurov and Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin, on Saturday.

The next STS-108 mission status report will be issued about 6 p.m. today or as events warrant.

On Monday, December 10, 2001, 6:30 p.m. CST, STS-108 MCC Status Report # 11 reports:

Endeavour astronauts Linda Godwin and Dan Tani completed a four-hour, 12-minute space walk today to install insulation on mechanisms that rotate the International Space Station's main solar arrays.

The space walk went smoothly as Godwin and Tani installed insulation around the two barrel-shaped devices atop the station's five-story tall truss structure. The space walkers also attempted to secure one of four legs that brace the starboard station array, but they were unable to close the latch, which has been open since the array was installed a year ago. The other legs have always been latched securely and are sufficient.

On their way down from the top of the station, the two space walkers stopped at a stowage bin to retrieve a cover which had been removed from a station antenna during an earlier flight. The cover will be brought back to Earth and may be reused. Godwin and Tani also performed a "get-ahead" task, positioning two switches on the station's exterior to be installed on an upcoming shuttle mission, STS-110, that will deliver a central, 40-foot long truss section this spring. Godwin and Tani left Endeavour's airlock at 11:52 a.m. CST as the shuttle and station flew above the Pacific Ocean off the coast of South America. They ended the space walk at 4:04 p.m. CST.

Meanwhile, aboard the station, the Expedition Four crew -- Commander Yury Onufrienko and Flight Engineers Dan Bursch and Carl Walz -- continued moving supplies to and from the Raffaello logistics module, now more than 70 percent unloaded. So far, at least 3,500 pounds of food and supplies have been moved from Raffaello to the station and another 1,000 pounds of gear and experiments have been moved to the station from Endeavour's cabin. The hatches between Endeavour and the station, closed late yesterday to prepare for today's space walk, were reopened just before 6 p.m. CST.

Today's space walk completes a record year with 18 space walks conducted: 12 originating from the shuttle and six from the station. That number eclipses the previous records for most space walks performed in a single year, a tie between the years 1973, when nine space walks were conducted from the Skylab space station, and 1997, when nine space walks were conducted from the shuttle and from the Russian Mir space station combined. The space walking record set this year is expected to be broken again next year -- in 2002, 22 space walks are planned from the shuttle and station.

The crews will begin a sleep period at 10:19 p.m. CST and Endeavour's crew will awaken at 6:19 a.m. CST Tuesday with the station crew awakening a half-hour later. The next STS-108 mission status report will be issued about 7 a.m. Tuesday today or as events warrant.

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