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Astronauts Reid Wiseman of NASA and Alexander Gerst of ESA have successfully completed what was the first US EVA of the year on Tuesday. The pair outside performed clean-up, replacement, and installation tasks on the exterior of the station. EVA-27 began at 12:30 PM GMT when the duo egress the Quest airlock, ending six hours and 13 minutes later.
The first goal was to stow a failed cooling pump. Expedition 38 astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins replaced the faulty pump last December, but they were only able to put it in temporary storage. Wiseman and Gerst put it in a more permanent location on the outside of the station, and they also installed adjustable grapple bars on the platform where they stowed the pump.
Gerst then moved to the Destiny node where he replaced a light on the External Television Camera Group while Wiseman began installing a backup power supply to the station’s mobile transporter.
All these tasks seem simple enough, and may not seem to warrant over 6 hours of work, but the two astronauts were on the exterior of a station flying at almost five miles a second. They were in very bulky suits, and a puncture at any location meant certain death. They had to be careful, deliberate and make sure everything was done right. It was a feat that required a whole team of people, both on the ground and in orbit.
Agencies/Canadajournal
