STS-69 Day 9 Highlights

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On Friday, September 15, 1995, 7 a.m. CDT, STS-69 MCC Status Report # 16 reports:

Endeavour's astronauts completed work with the Wake Shield Facility today by lifting the satellite out of its platform in the Shuttle's cargo bay one more time to gather data about electrically charged particles which stream over a spacecraft in low Earth orbit.

The Wake Shield was unberthed about 2 Central time and was hung over the side of Endeavour's cargo bay at the end of the ship's robot arm by Astronaut Jim Newman for CHAWS, the Charging Hazards and Wake Studies Experiment. It is an Air Force sponsored experiment designed to collect data on the buildup of electrical fields around an orbiting space vehicle. Engineers intend to use the information to better understand how the ionized particles interfere with spacecraft communications and the operation of orbiting spacecraft.

The Wake Shield remained fixed to the end of the Shuttle's mechanical arm for about 5 hours for CHAWS data-gathering, before Newman maneuvered the satellite back down onto its berthing platform where it was latched it in place to wrap up the Wake Shield's scientific investigations.

Payload Commander Jim Voss and Mike Gernhardt also reviewed their timeline once again for tomorrow's six-hour spacewalk in Endeavour's cargo bay to test new thermal improvements made to their spacesuits and some of the tools and techniques which may be used to assemble the International Space Station.

Voss and Gernhardt are scheduled to float out into the cargo bay to begin their six-hour extravehicular activity at about 3 Central time Saturday.

The crew was awakened late Thursday night for their ninth day of work in space to the tune "He's A Tramp", taken from the cartoon movie, "Lady and the Tramp".

On Friday, September 15, 1995, 4 p.m. CDT, STS-69 MCC Status Report # 17 reports:

Shortly after waking up, Jim Voss and Mike Gernhardt will begin preparing for their spacewalk which will test new thermal improvements made to their spacesuits and some of the tools and techniques which may be used to assemble the International Space Station. Pilot Ken Cockrell will assist Voss and Gernhardt as they climb into their spacesuits and prepare for the second spacewalk of the year.

During the spacewalk, Mission Specialist Jim Newman will hoist Voss and Gernhardt outside the warmth of Endeavour's payload bay using the shuttle's robot arm to maneuver them into a colder attitude to validate thermal modifications made to the suits' liquid cooling garments and gloves.

Voss and Gernhardt are scheduled to float out into the cargo bay to begin their six-hour extravehicular activity at about 3 a.m. Central time Saturday.

The Wake Shield Facility is once again back in Endeavour's payload bay following five hours of investigations into how ionized particles in the plasma field around a spacecraft may interfere with communications and operations. Wake Shield was supporting CHAWS, the Charging Hazards and Wake Studies Experiment, an Air Force-sponsored experiment.

The crew also spent time discussing Endeavour's mission and activities with media during an inflight press conference this afternoon.

On Saturday, September 16, 1995, 5:30 a.m. CDT, STS-69 MCC Status Report # 18 reports:

Astronauts Jim Voss and Mike Gernhardt floated out into Endeavour's cargo bay early this morning for a 6 1/2 hour spacewalk designed to test new thermal improvements made to their spacesuits and the tools and techniques which may be used one day in the assembly of the International Space Station.

The spacewalk began at 3:20 a.m. Central, after Voss and Gernhardt breathed pure oxygen in Endeavour's airlock to cleanse the nitrogen from their bloodstreams in a standard pre-spacewalk procedure.

The first task for the spacewalkers was to install thermal sensors on Endeavour's robot arm and at a work site mounted on the starboard wall of the Shuttle's payload bay. The sensors measure temperature levels in the cargo bay to provide data on how hot and cold the spacewalkers can get as they perform their work.

Voss and Gernhardt removed a debris shield from the work site, manipulated a duplicate of a computer control box for a robot arm under development for the Space Station and tested new helmet lights and suit heaters as they maneuvered around the cargo bay with relative ease.

The spacewalk is scheduled to conclude at about 10 a.m. when the two astronauts climb back into Endeavour's airlock. The remaining three astronauts, Dave Walker, Ken Cockrell and Jim Newman have been assisting with the spacewalk from the flight deck of the orbiter with Newman serving as the primary choreographer with Voss and Gernhardt. Newman performed a spacewalk on a Shuttle flight two years ago to evaluate tools and techniques for future spacewalks.

On Saturday, September 16, 1995, 2:30 p.m. CDT, STS-69 MCC Status Report # 19 reports:

With a 6-hour 46-minute spacewalk under their belts, Endeavour's astronauts completed the final major milestone of the flight.

Jim Voss and Mike Gernhardt began the spacewalk at 3:20 a.m. Central today, evaluating thermal improvements made to their spacesuits and a variety of tools and techniques which may be used in the assembly of the International Space Station. In turn, Gernhardt and Voss each spent 45 minutes on the end of Endeavour's mechanical arm as Jim Newman maneuvered them away from the radiated warmth of the payload bay. With the Shuttle's payload bay pointed away from the Sun, the spacewalkers were exposed to temperatures as low as minus 120 degrees Fahrenheit during this "cold soak" evaluation. Voss and Gernhardt continually provided subjective ratings on their comfort levels to flight controllers on the ground. Temperature measurement devices mounted on the robot arm and in the payload bay will provide objective data that will be correlated with their evaluations. Throughout the entire spacewalk activity, both Voss and Gernhardt reported they were very comfortable, both during their cold soak evaluation and as they worked through a series of repetitive tool-handling tasks in Endeavour's payload bay.

With all their objectives complete and after stowing their tools and equipment, the two spacewalkers made their way back into the airlock, closed the hatch and began to repressurize the airlock. With the pressure at about 10.2 psi, Ken Cockrell opened the hatch to Endeavour's middeck and welcomed his crewmates back on board. Endeavour's crew cabin was then repressurized back to 14.7 psi while Voss and Gernhardt were helped out of their spacesuits.

Following an 8-hour sleep period, Endeavour's astronauts will be awakened at 10:09 p.m. to begin their final full day on orbit. Early Sunday morning, Commander Dave Walker, Cockrell and Newman will check out Endeavour's flight control surfaces and conduct a hot fire test of the reaction control system jets in anticipation of Monday morning's return trip to Earth.

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