1991-1992 Europe & Asia in Space, Nicholas Johnson and David Rodvold, U.S. Air Force Phillips Laboratory, 1993, p. 71; "Mir Cosmonauts Continue Work," Neville Kidger, Spaceflight, April 1992, pp. 120; "The Experience in Operation and Improving the Orlan-type Space Suits," I. P. Abramov, Acta Astronautica, Vol. 36, No. 1, July 1995, pp. 1-12.
March 17
Mir/Soyuz-TM-14 PE-11 launch
March 24–April 2
STS-45/Atlantis
March 25
Mir/Soyuz-TM 13 PE-10 landing
May 7
STS-49/Endeavour launch
May 10
1992 EVA 2
World EVA 98 U.S. EVA 54 Shuttle EVA 16
Duration: 3:43 Spacecraft/mission: STS-49 Crew: Daniel Brandenstein, Kevin Chilton, Pierre Thuot, Kathy Thornton, Richard Hieb, Thomas Akers, Bruce Melnick Spacewalkers: Pierre Thuot, Richard Hieb Purpose: Retrieve Intelsat VI satellite and install perigee kick motor
The Shuttle orbiter Endeavour began its career in the spotlight with three planned EVAs, a record for a single Shuttle flight. On May 8 the crew, commanded by Daniel Brandenstein, lowered Endeavour's cabin pressure to 70.3 kpascal (10.2 psi) to reduce prebreathe time. They also checked the four EMUs carried on board and tested the RMS. On this date Rick Hieb and Pierre Thuot suited up with assistance from Thomas Akers, who, with Kathy Thornton, was scheduled to perform the second EVA of the flight, during which the Assembly of Station by EVA Methods (ASEM) experiment would be performed. Hieb and Thuot were charged with capturing the Intelsat VI satellite, stranded in low Earth orbit since March 14, 1990, and attaching a 10,455-kg (23,000-lb) solid-fueled perigee kick motor to boost it to its proper place in geosynchronous orbit. They entered Endeavour's airlock while Intelsat VI was still 13 km (8 mi) away. Thuot, who held a capture bar device equipped with an RMS grapple fixture, rode the end of the RMS, which was operated by Bruce Melnick. During orbital night Endeavour completed rendezvous and Thuot attempted to attach the capture bar to the 5.2-m-by-3.2-m (17-ft-by-12-ft) satellite. Differences between ground training and actual orbital tasks thwarted his efforts and Intelsat VI began to oscillate. Several times the RMS stopped moving because it was driven into positions its joints could not support. After three capture attempts Endeavour moved off to permit Intelsat controllers to damp its wobble.
"Endeavour's Arduous Maiden Voyage," Roelof Schuiling, Spaceflight, August 1993, pp. 272; "Intelsat Rescue, Space Station EVAs Set for First Endeavour Flight Test," Craig Covault, Aviation Week & Space Technology, May 4, 1992, p. 70-74; "Endeavour's Intelsat Rescue Sets EVA, Rendezvous Records," Craig Covault, Aviation Week & Space Technology, May 18, 1992, pp. 22-26; interview, David S. F. Portree with Kathy Thornton, June 17, 1996.
May 11
1992 EVA 3
World EVA 99 U.S. EVA 55 Shuttle EVA 17
Duration: 5:30 Spacecraft/mission: STS-49 Crew: Daniel Brandenstein, Kevin Chilton, Pierre Thuot, Kathy Thornton, Richard Hieb, Thomas Akers, Bruce Melnick Spacewalkers: Pierre Thuot, Richard Hieb Purpose: Retrieve Intelsat VI satellite and install perigee kick motor
NASA again tried the original plan for capturing Intelsat VI, this time with greater care taken in positioning Thuot and less force on the capture bar. Endeavour again completed rendezvous in darkness, but Thuot waited until orbital sunrise to make another attempt. He tried five more times to attach the capture bar while Melnick operated the RMS and Hieb stood by in the payload bay. Although his alignment was unquestionably correct, the bar refused to seat and the satellite began wobbling again. Endeavour backed away to allow Intelsat controllers to stabilize it. Thuot later remarked that handling Intelsat VI "was much more dynamic than our training had led us to believe."
"Endeavour's Arduous Maiden Voyage," Roelof Schuiling, Spaceflight, August 1993, p. 272; "Pierre Thuot Speaks About Astronauts 'On the Job'," Ben Evans, Spaceflight, February 1994, p. 48; "Endeavour's Intelsat Rescue Sets EVA, Rendezvous Records," Craig Covault, Aviation Week & Space Technology, May 18, 1992, pp. 22-26.
May 13
1992 EVA 4
World EVA 100 U.S. EVA 56 Shuttle EVA 18
Duration: 8:29 Spacecraft/mission: STS-49 Crew: Daniel Brandenstein, Kevin Chilton, Pierre Thuot, Kathy Thornton, Richard Hieb, Thomas Akers, Bruce Melnick Spacewalkers: Pierre Thuot, Richard Hieb, Thomas Akers Purpose: Retrieve Intelsat VI satellite and install perigee kick motor
While controllers on the ground determined if Endeavour had enough propellant to carry out a third rendezvous, the crew proposed capturing the satellite using a three-person EVA (the first in history) and components of the ASEM experiment payload. The ASEM struts would be assembled into a triangular structure to which the three EVA astronauts could attach their feet. Endeavour would maneuver under Intelsat VI and the astronauts would grasp the satellite with their hands. Astronauts Story Musgrave, Richard Clifford, and James Voss used the WETF to test whether three astronauts could fit in the airlock at once and to determine positioning in the payload bay for the capture. Meanwhile, the Intelsat organization verified that the satellite's surface temperature would not exceed the 160 deg C (320 deg F) glove touch temperature limit, and engineers from Hughes, the maker of the satellite, determined the best grab locations. At one point on May 12, seven EMUs were being used simultaneously: three in Endeavour's airlock, three in the WETF, and one in a NASA JSC vacuum chamber. On this date, Kathy Thornton helped Akers, Hieb, and Thuot suit up, and the astronauts commenced the 100th EVA in history. By the time they were finished, it was also the longest EVA in history. With Thuot on the RMS, Hieb near the starboard payload bay wall, and Akers in the center of the bay attached to an ASEM strut, Brandenstein edged Endeavour toward the satellite's underside. The astronauts studied the 14,400-kg (32,000-lb) satellite's slow rotation for about 15 min, then together grasped it. Hieb attached the capture bar while Thuot and Akers held Intelsat VI, then Melnick grappled the bar with the RMS to move the satellite into position above the perigee kick motor. The astronauts attached the motor, then retreated to the airlock while Kathy Thornton activated springs to propel Intelsat VI out of the payload bay. After two failed attempts Intelsat VI was sent on its way. The three astronauts returned to the payload bay and cleaned up, stowing foot restraints and a camera. On May 15, the perigee kick motor fired to begin Intelsat VI's long-delayed voyage to its assigned slot in geosynchronous orbit.
"Endeavour's Arduous Maiden Voyage," Roelof Schuiling, Spaceflight, August 1993, pp. 272-273; "Pierre Thuot Speaks About Astronauts 'On the Job'," Ben Evans, Spaceflight, February 1994, p. 48; "Astronauts, Engineers, and Simulators Mobilized for Satellite Rescue," Aviation Week & Space Technology, May 18, 1992, p. 25; "Endeavour's Intelsat Rescue Sets EVA, Rendezvous Records," Craig Covault, Aviation Week & Space Technology, May 18, 1992, pp. 22-26; interview, David S. F. Portree with Kathy Thornton, June 17, 1996.
May 14
1992 EVA 5
World EVA 101 U.S. EVA 57 Shuttle EVA 19
Duration: 7:44 Spacecraft/mission: STS-49 Crew: Daniel Brandenstein, Kevin Chilton, Pierre Thuot, Kathy Thornton, Richard Hieb, Thomas Akers, Bruce Melnick Spacewalkers: Kathy Thornton, Thomas Akers Purpose: Test equipment for Space Station Freedom Program
The fourth EVA of Endeavour's first flight was dedicated to the ASEM experiment. ASEM was to have been the focus of the mission's second and third EVAs. The ASEM experiment was built by McDonnell-Douglas, Space Station Freedom truss prime contractor. When manifested, ASEM was an exercise in assembling the Freedom truss. At about the time ASEM was manifested, however, NASA took the decision to launch the truss in pre-assembled, pre-integrated segments. ASEM, according to Thornton, became "an exercise in frustration" involving excessive "arm work" and freefloating. Thornton and Akers assembled a pyramidal structure 4.6 m (15 ft) wide from struts and connectors ("sticks and balls") carried in the Mission Peculiar Equipment Support Structure (MPESS) in the payload bay. Because of SSF engineering requirements, ASEM struts and connectors were not designed for optimum EVA handling. For example, the narrow "necks" on the ends of the beams which made handling relatively easy during the STS 61-B EASE/ACCESS experiments were not included because they weakened the truss. Thuot monitored Thornton and Akers and kept track of the abundant hardware in the payload bay from Endeavour's flight deck. After they completed the ASEM structure, Melnick used the RMS to position it so the spacewalkers could attach the MPESS. According to Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine, this exercise was "directly applicable to planning for attachment of space station modular 'nodes' to the preintegrated station truss on Shuttle missions starting in 1995-96." Akers and Thornton fell behind the EVA timeline, so a plan to have each astronaut ride the MPESS as Melnick hoisted it over Endeavour's nose was abandoned. The exercise was important because the over-the-nose location was an important station assembly area. Mass-handling exercises using the 1725-kg (3800-lb) MPESS with application to station Orbital Replaceable Unit (ORU) installation were also truncated because of time pressure and because the Intelsat VI retrieval provided needed data. The EVA included the Crew Self Rescue (CSR) flight demonstration, which tested equipment to allow an EVA astronaut to safely return to a space station if he or she became untethered. Six self-rescue devices were included, but the extra time spent on ASEM meant that only the Crew Propulsive Device (CPD) could be tested. The CPD was a hand-held nozzle assembly resembling the Gemini HHMU which was fed by a compressed nitrogen tank mounted on the PLSS. The CPD worked as expected, but time constraints meant that it could be evaluated for only about 10 min of a planned 15 to 20 min. The other CSR devices included inflatable and telescoping poles and a rope "bola" device the drifting astronaut could throw to hook to a station strut. The devices were all tested before flight by suited astronauts aboard the KC-135 aircraft at NASA JSC. During the EVA, Thornton's EMU provided improper display data and Endeavour's Ku-band antenna stopped operating, limiting TV coverage.
STS-49 Crew Self Rescue Media Guide, NASA JSC, April 1992; "Endeavour's Arduous Maiden Voyage," Roelof Schuiling, Spaceflight, August 1993, p. 273; "Pierre Thuot Speaks About Astronauts 'On the Job'," Ben Evans, Spaceflight, February 1994, p. 48; "EVAs to Influence Development of Space Station Hardware," Aviation Week & Space Technology, May 18, 1996, pp. 25-26. interview, David S. F. Portree with Kathy Thornton, June 17, 1996; interview, David S. F. Portree with Steve Glenn, August 21, 1996.
May 16
STS-49/Endeavour landing
June 25–July 9
STS-50/Columbia
July 8
1992 EVA 6
World EVA 102 Russian EVA 45 Space Station EVA 53
Duration: 2:03 Spacecraft/mission: Mir PE-11 Crew: Alexandr Viktorenko, Alexandr Kaleri Spacewalkers: Alexandr Viktorenko, Alexandr Kaleri Purpose: Inspect Kvant 2 gyrodynes; evaluate difficulty of gyrodyne repair
This EVA, the only one scheduled for Mir PE-11, was planned to last 1 hr, 55 min. Viktorenko and Kaleri used large shears to cut through thermal insulation on Kvant 2 module to reach its gyrodynes, electrically driven gyroscopes which stabilize and maneuver the Mir complex without using propellant. Four of the six gyrodynes launched on Kvant 2 had ceased to operate. One inside Kvant also failed, but this was replaceable without an EVA. The cosmonauts inspected and televised the gyrodynes for engineers in Kaliningrad. Before closing out the EVA, they tested binoculars compatible with a space suit visor for inspecting Mir's outlying areas.
"French Cosmonaut Visits Mir," Neville Kidger, Spaceflight, November 1992, p. 361; 1991-1992 Europe & Asia in Space, Nicholas Johnson and David Rodvold, U.S. Air Force Phillips Laboratory, 1993, p. 73.
July 27
Mir/Soyuz-TM 15 PE-12 launch