Two Russian cosmonauts ventured outdoors the Worldwide House Station Wednesday to search for the supply of a leak at or close to a newly put in radiator on the Nauka lab module and to isolate it from coolant traces.
Additionally they deliberate to connect a small artificial aperture radar instrument to the hull of the multi-purpose laboratory, deploy a mini satellite tv for pc to check photo voltaic sail know-how and, if time is accessible, substitute {an electrical} connector panel.
Floating within the Russian Poisk module, veteran cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, making his sixth spacewalk, and first-time flyer Nikolai Chub started the tour at 1:49 p.m. EDT once they opened the facet hatch to the vacuum of house.
For identification, Kononenko, name signal EV-1, is sporting an Orlan spacesuit with crimson stripes whereas Chub, EV-2, is utilizing a go well with with blue stripes. Each males are outfitted with NASA helmet cameras.
The radiator in query was launched with the Russian Rassvet module aboard the house shuttle Atlantis in Could 2010. The radiator and a small experiment airlock remained saved on Rassvet till earlier this 12 months when spacewalking cosmonauts hooked up each to the Nauka multi-purpose laboratory module.
The radiator’s set up went usually and valves have been opened to route coolant from Nauka into its unfolded panels. However on Oct. 9, flight controllers famous flakes streaming from the realm of the radiator. The flakes turned out to be frozen coolant that was spewing overboard.
Kononenko and Chub deliberate to spend about three hours documenting the positions of coolant loop valves, adjusting them to isolate the radiator from provide traces and photographing the leak website to assist engineers determine what prompted it.
It was the third coolant leak in lower than a 12 months for the Russians, beginning with a large rupture that disabled a Soyuz crew ferry ship final December. An identical leak developed on an unpiloted Progress cargo provider earlier this 12 months.
The presumed reason behind the Soyuz leak was a micrometeoroid impression. The Russians haven’t addressed the potential reason behind the Progress leak or the one affecting the Nauka radiator. However it appears extraordinarily unlikely micrometeoroids might have prompted three such incidents in comparable methods.
In any case, shortly after the most recent leak occurred the Russian house company Roscosmos stated in a publish on Telegram that the lab’s major coolant loop was not affected and “the crew and the station should not in any hazard.”
Kononenko and Chub weren’t planning any kind of restore. Their major goal was to seek out and doc the place the leak may need originated and to isolate the radiator from coolant provide traces to stop any future issues.
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