NASA spacewalker and Expedition 64 Flight Engineer Victor Glover works to ready the International Space station’s port-side truss structures during a spacewalk on January 27, 2021, in preparation for upcoming solar array upgrades. Image via NASA.
Three International Space Station (ISS) crew members will conduct the first of a pair of spacewalks on Sunday, February 28, 2021, to ready the station for solar array upgrades. Live coverage will air on NASA TV, beginning at 4:30 a.m.EST (9:30 UTC; translate UTC to your time), with the astronauts scheduled to exit the station’s Quest airlock about 6:00 a.m. EST (11:00 UTC) The spacewalk will last approximately 6 1/2 hours. Watch here.
The second spacewalk is scheduled for Friday, March 5.
On Sunday, NASA flight engineers Kate Rubins and Victor Glover, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi, will step out of the space station to begin assembling and installing modification kits required for upcoming solar array upgrades. According to a NASA statement:
The current solar arrays are functioning well, but have begun to show signs of degradation, as expected, as they were designed for a 15-year service life. The first pair of solar arrays were deployed in December 2000 and have been powering the station for more than 20 years. Later this year, the new solar arrays will be positioned in front of six of the current arrays, increasing the station’s total available power from 160 kilowatts to up to 215 kilowatts.
Spacewalks are the focus now as the Exp 64 crew begins unloading four tons of cargo from the new @NorthropGrumman #Cygnus U.S. space freighter. More… https://t.co/nTzCvgAoVk pic.twitter.com/b5snu4Ebjf
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) February 24, 2021
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On the Friday, March 5 spacewalk, two astronauts will vent ammonia from the Early Ammonia System and complete several other tasks. According to NASA:
The pair will install a “stiffener” on the Quest airlock thermal cover to prevent it from blowing out when residual atmosphere escapes as the hatch is opened. Glover began addressing this issue on a previous spacewalk by installing a stronger magnet to keep the cover closed. The crew also will remove and replace a wireless video transceiver assembly.
Bottom line: On Sunday, February 28, watch live coverage as three astronauts perform the first in a pair of International Space Station (ISS) spacewalks to ready the station for solar array upgrades. How to watch.
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Source:
https://earthsky.org/space/watch-iss-spacewalk-feb-mar-2021