STS-64, 1994 - During the second EVA Development Flight Test mission, Mark Lee (top) and Carl Meade tested the SAFER outside Discovery's payload bay. (5064-115-011)
Image
STS-64 Space Shuttle Mission Report, LASTS-08293, January 1995, pp. 35-36; "Rescue Device Shines in Untethered EVA Tests," James McKenna, Aviation Week & Space Technology, September 26, 1994, pp. 25-26; interview, David S. F. Portree with Clifford Hess, May 30, 1996; interview, David S. F. Portree with Mark Lee, June 10, 1996.
September 20
STS-64/Discovery landing
September 30-October 11
STS-68/Endeavour
October 3
Mir/Soyuz-TM 20 PE-17 launch
November 3-14
STS-66/Atlantis
November 4
Mir/Soyuz-TM 19 PE-16 landing
1995
February 3
STS-63/Discovery launch
February 9
1995 EVA 1 World EVA 125 U.S. EVA 67 Shuttle EVA 29
Duration: 4:39
Spacecraft/mission: STS-63
Crew: James Wetherbee, Eileen Collins, Michael Foale, Janice Voss, Bernard Harris, Vladimir Titov (Russian Space Agency) Spacewalkers: Michael Foale, Bernard Harris
Purpose: Mass handling and Shuttle EMU thermal evaluations in preparation for ISS assembly and maintenance
This was the first EVA in the EVA Development Flight Test (EDFT) program, which aimed to prepare NASA for ISS assembly. Foale and Harris commenced EVA preparations on February 8, soon after Discovery completed proximity operations with Russia's Mir space station. The astronauts wore EMUs with thermal modifications, including thicker underwear, better-insulated gloves, and a bypass switch to allow reduction of cooling water flow through the LCVGs without reducing ventilation. A 4-hr prebreathe was required because the crew could not lower cabin pressure prior to the EVA without compromising experiments in the Spacehab module in Discovery's payload bay. Foale and Harris waited in the airlock while Janice Voss retrieved the 1.37-m (4.5-ft) cube-shaped SPARTAN 204 freeflyer with the RMS. A few minutes before Voss berthed the 1363-kg (3000-lb) subsatellite, Foale and Harris entered the payload bay through the airlock extension tunnel linking Discovery's mid-deck to Spacehab. The astronauts secured two Universal Handling Tools on the SPARTAN for mass-handling experiments, then Harris and Foale stepped onto the RMS. Russian cosmonaut Vladimir Titov took charge of the RMS and moved the astronauts 9.1 m (30 ft) above the payload bay for a 15-min cold soak. Discovery's attitude was purposely maintained to make the astronauts as cold as possible—the payload bay was pointed away from the Sun during daylight and toward deep space during orbital night. A "thermal cube" sensor package on the MFR and sensors in the EMU gloves recorded ambient temperatures so they could be compared with the astronauts' subjective impressions. The astronauts were not cold when the payload bay pointed toward the Earth. Then Foale moved to the PFR and Harris to a foot restraint by SPARTAN's port side. Voss unlatched the SPARTAN and Titov moved Foale into position over the freeflyer so he could lift it in an experiment to determine astronaut and EMU ability to handle large loads. Foale then handed the SPARTAN to Harris. (He commented later that the air-bearing floor simulated EVA mass-handling well.) During orbital night Foale's glove temperature dropped below minus 6 deg C (20 deg F). The ECCs went blank from the cold, so the astronauts fell back on printed checklists. Harris' feet became cold through contact with Discovery's structure as a temperature of minus 148 deg C (minus 130 deg F) was recorded by the thermal cube. The astronauts reported that the thermal overgloves produced only slight warming. Foale took back the SPARTAN, but Mission Control canceled the remainder of the mass-handling experiment and terminated the EVA early after the astronauts rated the cold as a 3 ("unacceptably cold") on a 1 to 8 scale devised before launch. Foale put the SPARTAN back in its berth. Commander James Wetherbee and Pilot Eileen Collins maneuvered Discovery to warm Harris and Foale's EMUs before they returned to the airlock. After taking off his helmet, Harris smelled an odor and suffered burning eyes. Wetherbee collected an air sample and Harris washed his eyes with water. Postflight analysis revealed no contaminants. The irritation could have been caused by contact with an anti-fogging soap solution—four EVA astronauts encountered the same problem on previous flights. During the EVA, a pressure drop occurred in the Spacehab module, which was isolated from the rest of Discovery's pressurized volume. The leak, equivalent to a loss of 7.7-9 kg (17-20 lb) of air per day, stopped after the EVA.
STS-63 Mission Report, June 1995; "EVAs Follow Mir Rendezvous," Spaceflight, May 1995, pp. 155-156; "STS-63 Mission Overview," Joel Powell, Countdown, March/April 1995, pp. 18-21.
February 11
STS-63/Discovery landing
March 2-18
STS-67/Endeavour
March 14
Soyuz-TM 21/Mir PE-18 launch
March 22
Soyuz-TM 20/Mir PE-17 landing
May 12
1995 EVA 2 World EVA 126 Russian EVA 59 Space Station EVA 67
Duration: 6:08
Spacecraft/mission: Mir PE-18
Crew: Vladimir Dezhurov, Gennadi Strekalov, Norman Thagard (NASA) Spacewalkers: Vladimir Dezhurov, Gennadi Strekalov
Purpose: Prepare to move solar arrays from Kristall to Kvant
For a time it appeared that the first EVA of Mir PE-18 might be delayed by injury; Strekalov cut his hand while working inside the Mir station, and the cut became infected. Rumor had it that U.S. astronaut Thagard might replace him, but this was vehemently denied by TsUP spokesmen, who stated that Thagard lacked specialized EVA training. On May 2 the cosmonauts inventoried and marked cables for use in the EVA. On May 5 they reviewed a training video, and on May 6 and May 7 prepared their Orlan-DMA space suits. On May 7 and May 8 the cosmonauts and TsUP performed communications checks. Dezhurov and Strekalov conducted a tool familiarization simulation in the depressurized Mir transfer compartment on May 10, during which a problem with the radio transmitter in one suit surfaced. The cosmonauts spent the four days prior to the EVA almost exclusively on EVA preparations. Thagard assisted and did life sciences research. The joint U.S.-Russian crew took breaks to load Progress-M 27 with trash prior to its scheduled undocking on May 21. On this date all was at last ready for the EVA, which was planned to last 5 hr, 20 min. Thagard, inside Mir, read instructions to Dezhurov and Strekalov when the station was out of contact with the TsUP. The cosmonauts changed wiring on Kvant to prepare for transfer of the 12.2-m (40-ft) Kristall arrays, then moved to Kristall and practiced folding three small panels of one array. Each array had 28 such panels. Removal of the U.S.-built TREK space exposure experiment (a 20-min procedure) was planned, but had to be postponed when the EVA ran 15 min past the safe limit. The cosmonauts were reported to be very tired after the EVA, so they rested all day May 13.
MirNews 252, Chris Vandenberg, May 8, 1995; MirNews 254, Chris Vandenberg, May 16, 1995; "Orbital Castling: Life of Mir Station Will Be Prolonged Three More Years," Mikhail Chemyshov, Segodnya, May 11, 1995, p. 9 (translated in JPRS Report, Science & Technology, Central Eurasia: Space, FBIS-UST-95030, August 2, 1995, pp. 20-21); "Mir Extension Weekly Operations Report for Week of Monday May 1 through Friday, May 5, 1995," Anthony Sang to Distribution, May 9, 1995; "Mir-18 Mission Status Report #18," May 5, 1995; "Mir-18 Mission Status Report #20," May 12, 1995; "Mir Docking Plans Meet With Success," Neville Kidger, Spaceflight, July 1995, pp. 222-223.
May 17
1995 EVA 3 World EVA 127 Russian EVA 60 Space Station EVA 68
Duration: 6:52
Spacecraft/mission: Mir PE-18
Crew: Vladimir Dezhurov, Gennadi Strekalov, Norman Thagard (NASA) Spacewalkers: Vladimir Dezhurov, Gennadi Strekalov
Purpose: Install solar array from Kristall on Kvant
On May 15 Strekalov and Dezhurov changed their suit batteries and replenished consumables. On this date Thagard cycled closure servomotor switches inside Mir while Strekalov monitored array closure from Strela, which Dezhurov operated. Strekalov had to manually close one panel. Detaching the array from Kristall required no tools; it was designed for easy removal by cosmonauts encumbered by space suit gloves. Dezhurov transferred Strekalov and the array to the Kvant worksite, then joined him there. Batteries for the arrays remained in Kristall, so cables had to run Mir's length. The cosmonauts lacked sufficient time to install the array and reopen it as planned. Instead they lashed it to its mount with tool tethers. The resulting power deficit was made up in part by electricity from the arrays on Progress-M 27, which was retained for two days longer than originally planned. The next scheduled EVA was delayed two days from May 20 to give the cosmonauts more time to rest.
MirNews 255, Chris Vandenberg, May 17, 1995; "EVA Problems Delay Mir Station Changes," Craig Covault, Aviation Week & Space Technology, May 22, 1995, p. 65; "Re: MEAT Weekly Reports 5 and 6," Bonnie Dunbar to Anthony Sang, April 27, 1995; "Mir-18: Public Affairs Office Mission Science Report," May 15, 1995; "Mir Docking Plans Meet With Success," Neville Kidger, Spaceflight, July 1995, p. 224.
May 22
1995 EVA 4 World EVA 128 Russian EVA 61 Space Station EVA 69
Duration: 5:15
Spacecraft/mission: Mir PE-18
Crew: Vladimir Dezhurov, Gennadi Strekalov, Norman Thagard (NASA) Spacewalkers: Vladimir Dezhurov, Gennadi Strekalov
Purpose: Install Kristall array on Kvant; stow second Kristall array
The third EVA of Principal Expedition 18 (designated EVA "213" by NASA) was scheduled to last 6 hr, 15 min. An electricity shortage interfered with communication between Mir and the TsUP during the EVA. There was insufficient power for TV through the Altair geosynchronous satellite. Despite this, Strekalov and Dezhurov succeeded in installing the array moved on May 17. Thagard then commanded the array to unfold, restoring Mir's electrical supply. The spacewalkers closed 13 of 28 segments on the second array so it could continue to produce electricity while leaving sufficient clearance for Kristall to be repositioned. Progress-M 27 undocked from the front port on May 23 to make way for Spektr.
MirNews 257, Chris Vandenberg, May 22, 1995; "Re: MEAT Weekly Reports 5 and 6," Bonnie Dunbar to Anthony Sang, April 27, 1995; "Mir Docking Plans Meet With Success," Neville Kidger, Spaceflight, July 1995, pp. 224; "A Mir Matter of Change," L. van den Abeelen, Spaceflight, August 1995, p. 273.
May 29
1995 EVA 5 World EVA 129 Russian EVA 62 Space Station EVA 70
Duration: 0:21
Spacecraft/mission: Mir PE-18
Crew: Vladimir Dezhurov, Gennadi Strekalov, Norman Thagard (NASA) Spacewalkers: Vladimir Dezhurov, Gennadi Strekalov
Purpose: Prepare Mir base block berthing node for transfer of Kristall to -Z port
The cosmonauts wore space suits but remained inside the forward transfer compartment and never ventured outside Mir. Nevertheless, most sources consider this and the other Konus transfers to be EVAs. Dezhurov and Strekalov entered the transfer compartment, sealed the hatches linking it to Kristall, the core module, and Kvant 2, and dumped its air. They then removed the Konus #2 drogue from the -Y port, closed the port with a hinged flat plate door, opened an identical door on the -Z port, and installed the Konus unit. Their task completed, they repressurized the transfer compartment and rejoined Thagard inside the base block.
MirNews 257, Chris Vandenberg, May 22, 1995; "Mir Docking Plans Meet With Success," Neville Kidger, Spaceflight, July 1995, pp. 224.
June 2
1995 EVA 6 World EVA 130 Russian EVA 63 Space Station EVA 71
Duration: 0:23
Spacecraft/mission: Mir PE-18
Crew: Vladimir Dezhurov, Gennadi Strekalov, Norman Thagard (NASA) Spacewalkers: Vladimir Dezhurov, Gennadi Strekalov
Purpose: Prepare Mir base block berthing node for transfer of Spektr module to berthed position