STS-72 Day 7 Highlights

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On Wednesday, January 17, 1996, 8 a.m. CST, STS-72 MCC Status Report # 09 reports:

Astronauts Leroy Chiao and Winston Scott tested connectors, cables and work platforms for almost 7 hours in Endeavour's cargo bay this morning during the second spacewalk of the STS-72 mission. Shortly after the astronauts completed their spacewalk, Endeavour's flash evaporator system was successfully purged and is again working at full capacity.

Chiao and Scott floated into the bay at 11:54 p.m. Tuesday as Endeavour passed over the African continent. The spacewalk began about one hour later than expected as the astronauts took longer to don their suits than had been expected. The spacewalk concluded at 6:34 a.m., with the two astronauts logging 6 hours 53 minutes and 41 seconds working in the vacuum of space.

Chiao and Scott worked with utility boxes, slidewires and a portable work stanchion affixed to Endeavour's robot arm to gather additional data on methods and procedures which may be incorporated in the techniques which will be used to assemble the International Space Station.

Flight controllers had to juggle spacewalk activities throughout the night due to the delayed start and a drop in temperature in the thruster fuel lines on the Japanese Space Flyer Unit satellite. Commander Brian Duffy maneuvered Endeavour to a warmer attitude allowing SFU temperatures to increase. The maneuver slightly delayed one of the priority tasks of the spacewalk --- a test of how well Scott's spacesuit would repel the freezing temperatures of space.

Late in the spacewalk, Scott finally climbed into foot restraints on the OAST-Flyer satellite platform for the thermal evaluation exercise. Endeavour was maneuvered to the coldest position possible, with its payload bay facing out toward deep space and allowing temperatures to dip to about 104 degrees below zero at the point where Scott was positioned to test the ability of his spacesuit to repel the bitter cold temperature of space.

It was Chiao's second spacewalk and the first for Scott, who choreographed the first spacewalk of the flight early Monday. Scott traded places with Dan Barry, who acted as spacewalk coordinator throughout tonight's EVA.

Pilot Brent Jett and Mission Specialist Koichi Wakata worked alongside Barry on Endeavour's aft flight deck, operating the ship's robot arm to move Chiao and Scott about the cargo bay in support of their various tasks.

As Chiao and Scott began their spacewalk, flight controllers repressurized Endeavour's cabin to 14.7 pounds per square inch to help warm the Shuttle in an effort to dislodge ice from the ship's flash evaporator system. The system is used to dissipate heat from the Shuttle and its avionics in association with radiators which are mounted on the inside of the payload bay doors. Shortly after 7:30 a.m., the FES core was successfully purged and the system is working at full capacity.

Earlier, Wakata fielded questions from Japanese schoolchildren representing Houston schools as part of a television program about the mission which was aired in Japan. Endeavour is currently orbiting the Earth at an altitude of about 192 statute miles.

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