January 15
1996 EVA 1 World EVA 137 U.S. EVA 69 Shuttle EVA 31
Duration: 6:09
Spacecraft/mission: STS-72
Crew: Brian Duffy, Brent Jett, Leroy Chiao, Winston Scott, Koichi Wakata, Daniel Barry Spacewalkers: Leroy Chiao, Daniel Barry
Purpose: Gain EVA experience for ISS assembly
The first EVA of 1996 commenced shortly after midnight Houston time. The planned six-and-a-half-hr EVA tested equipment for ISS assembly tasks. Chiao and Barry attached a PFR to the RMS, then unfolded and practiced attaching a rigid umbilical diagonally across Endeavour's payload bay. Rigid umbilicals will carry fluid and electrical lines between the modules and trusses in the U.S. segment of the ISS. The astronauts then assembled and tested the Lockheed Martin-built Portable Work Platform (PWP), which consisted of three components—the Temporary Equipment Restraint Aid, a holding place for ORUs; the Portable Foot Restraint Workstation Stanchion, which included two toolboards, sliding locks for holding tools, and two rigid tether sockets for ORU tethers; and the Articulating Portable Foot Restraint. They then installed the PWP on the RMS. Chiao and Barry both accidentally switched on their suit lights during the EVA. Barry told Chiao at the end of the EVA that "we'll come out together [again], Leroy... there's going to be plenty of work to do for Station." During the postflight debriefing, Chiao said that the ECC was a good idea poorly executed. Glare made it hard to read and it got in the way of suit controls. He summed up NASA's EVA emphasis during a TV interview by stating that, "we're testing the materials that are going to go into Station and we're testing techniques we will ultimately use to build that station... finally, we're training people to go out and do those techniques in the space environment."
"U.S., Japanese Crew Hone Orbital Repertoire," James McKenna, Aviation Week & Space Technology, January 22, 1996, p. 29; "Station Tools Pass Endeavour Tests," William Harwood, Space News, January 22-28, 1996, p. 18; STS-72 EVA Crew Debrief, February 1, 1996; "Shuttle Crew to Flight-Test Lockheed Martin's Space Station Assembly Equipment," Lockheed Martin Public Relations Office, January 10, 1996; "Space Station Assembly Tests," Roelof Schuiling, Spaceflight, April 1996, pp. 118-119.
January 17
1996 EVA 2 World EVA 138 U.S. EVA 70 Shuttle EVA 32
Duration: 6:54
Spacecraft/mission: STS-72
Crew: Brian Duffy, Brent Jett, Leroy Chiao, Winston Scott, Koichi Wakata, Daniel Barry Spacewalkers: Leroy Chiao, Winston Scott
Purpose: Gain EVA experience for ISS assembly; test EMU thermal modifications
Suit donning problems delayed this EVA by about one hr. Once outside, Scott mounted a foot restraint and held still for 35 min while Endeavour rolled to chill the payload bay. The temperature dropped to minus 122 deg C (minus 104 deg F), providing an extreme test of fingernail glove heaters and the coolant-loop bypass system. According to Scott, he was aware of the low temperature but remained comfortable. In the postflight debriefing he told EVA engineers that "if I felt that comfortable standing still, I think I'd have been even warmer as a result of being busy." The astronauts tested cable trays and clamps for use on ISS. Chiao stated in the postflight debrief that cold temps would make handling pressurized lines difficult. They reported that the clamps caused hand fatigue, and that large connectors were harder to use than small. The astronauts rocked back and forth on foot restraints to determine the level of stress likely to be placed on ISS structures during EVAs. They again accidentally switched on their suit lights; in daylight they were unable to see that they were on. Space News quoted lead EVA engineer Daryl Schuck as saying that all the data gathered in the practice EVAs "is going to be folded into the station design" to "make sure we've got a station that we're going to be able to build and maintain."
STS-72 EVA Crew Debrief, February 1, 1996; "Station Tools Pass Endeavour Tests," William Harwood, Space News, January 22-28, 1996, p. 18; "U.S., Japanese Crew Hone Orbital Repertoire," James McKenna, Aviation Week & Space Technology, January 22, 1996, p. 29; "Space Station Assembly Tests," Roelof Schuiling, Spaceflight, April 1996, pp. 118-119.
January 20
STS-72/Endeavour landing
February 8
1996 EVA 3 World EVA 139 ESA EVA 2/Russian EVA 69 Space Station EVA 77
Duration: 3:06
Spacecraft/mission: Mir PE-20
Crew: Yuri Gidzenko, Sergei Avdeyev, Thomas Reiter Spacewalkers: Thomas Reiter, Yuri Gidzenko
Purpose: Recover ESEF-1 dust collectors from Spektr's exterior; repair antenna on Kvant 2 solar array
Reiter and Gidzenko trained by radio for this EVA, which was expected to last 5 hr, 30 min. The cosmonauts first moved the SPK MMU outside Kvant 2 for permanent storage. The bulky device, which took up room in the Kvant 2 EVA airlock compartment, was a hindrance to EVAs since its two flights in 1990. Then Gidzenko crawled down Strela and took his place at its control cranks. He moved Reiter from Kvant 2 to Spektr, then crawled down Strela and around Spektr to join Reiter at the ESEF-1 worksite, where the German flight engineer removed two 2-kg (4.4-lb) dust collectors. The dust collectors were originally to have been recovered during an all-Russian EVA during PE-21, but postponement of PE-20's return by 44 days allowed Reiter to retrieve the collectors he installed in October. The cosmonauts fell behind schedule but caught up by working during night passes. They were unable to remove a malfunctioning antenna on one of the solar arrays with the tools at their disposal, so the TsUP ordered them to cut short the EVA. The "Post-EVA TGIF Message" they sent by amateur radio to a computer bulletin board showed that their exuberance was undamaged by the setback:
Everything went fine, we have done our work and retrieved two astrophysical cassettes... now we are getting more and more into preparations for our return. It's Friday, and we just would not feel all right if we would not remind you about the TGIF drinks... 19 days [until landing] and counting...
The recovered ESEF-1 collectors returned to Earth with Reiter aboard Soyuz-TM 22 on February 29.
ESA Press Release 08-96, February 2, 1996; Ben Huset, February 13, 1996; "Spacewalkers Outside Mir Retrieve Experiments," Peter de Selding, Space News, February 12-18, 1996, p. 3; Moscow Office Report #155, ANSER Center for International Aerospace Cooperation, October 20, 1995; "Science Tasks and EVA for Crew," Neville Kidger, Spaceflight, April 1996, p. 141.
February 21
Soyuz-TM 23/Mir PE-21 launch
February 22-March 9
STS-75/Columbia
February 29
Soyuz-TM 22/Mir PE-20 landing
March 15
1996 EVA 4 World EVA 140 Russian EVA 70 Space Station EVA 78
Duration: 5:51
Spacecraft/mission: Mir PE-21
Crew: Yuri Onufrienko, Yuri Usachev Spacewalkers: Yuri Onufrienko, Yuri Usachev
Purpose: Install second Strela boom on Mir base block
The first Strela boom could only reach Mir's -Z side, so a second Strela boom was installed to allow the cosmonauts to translate easily to the repositioned Kristall module. The astronauts attached the boom to brackets on the base block and extended it to its full 12-m (39.3-ft) length, then used it to return to the Kvant 2 SALC.
"America joins Russia in Permanent Human Presence in Space," Neville Kidger, Spaceflight, June 1996, p. 188.
March 22
STS-76/Atlantis (Shuttle-Mir 3) launch
March 27
1996 EVA 5 World EVA 141 U.S. EVA 71 Shuttle EVA 33/Space Station EVA 79
Duration: 6:02
Spacecraft/mission: STS-76 (Shuttle-Mir 3)/Mir PE-21
Crew 1: Kevin Chilton, Richard Searfoss, Linda Godwin, Michael Clifford, Ronald Sega (STS-76) Crew 2: Yuri Onufrienko, Yuri Usachev, Shannon Lucid (NASA) (PE-21) Spacewalkers: Michael Clifford, Linda Godwin
Purpose: Install MEEP space exposure panels on Mir Docking Module; gain EVA experience for ISS assembly; test ISS common foot restraint and tether hooks
Clifford and Godwin performed the first U.S. EVA outside a space station in more than 22 yr. Their EVA was significant also for being the first conducted from a Shuttle orbiter docked to a space station. Atlantis and Mir together weighed 237,494 kg (522,487 lb), making the combination the heaviest human artifact ever assembled in space. According to Godwin, the WETF was not deep enough to hold a mockup of the Mir Docking Module (DM) atop the Shuttle docking unit, so the astronauts "had to pretend a lot in training." For example, when they did egress simulations, they left the airlock, then were carried by divers to the mockup DM resting on its side. The astronauts used virtual reality for DM translation practice and SAFER training. Clifford wore the flight test SAFER unit used on STS-64, while Godwin wore a refurbished ground test unit. Before the EVA could commence, cargo for Mir stored in Atlantis' airlock had to be moved to Mir. For egress the crew used Atlantis' internal airlock plus the tunnel adapter leading to the docking unit, so they had available twice the usual airlock room. Godwin said that she could see the abandoned SPK hanging near the Kvant 2 hatch. The DM (delivered by Atlantis on STS-74) blocked some flight deck aft window views, but IV crewman Ron Sega was able to use payload bay cameras to monitor the EVA astronauts. Standard Shuttle tether hooks were not large enough to fit over Mir's handrails, so Godwin and Clifford used new tether hooks large enough to fit over Russian handrails and a foot restraint designed to hold both Orlan and EMU boots. They relied on their improved EMU helmet lights at night because Mir provided little illumination other than flashing running lights. Atlantis' payload bay lights helped relieve some of the gloom. During the EVA they took care not to venture beyond the 4.6-m-long (15-ft-long) DM onto Kristall because the Russians feared that they might accidentally damage its delicate surface structures. According to Godwin, NASA would have felt the same way about Russians unfamiliar with the Shuttle working in the payload bay. According to Godwin, Mir's white thermal blankets were stained brown around its attitude control jets. The crew aboard Mir, which included U.S. cosmonaut-researcher Shannon Lucid (she transferred to the Mir PE-21 crew soon after Atlantis docked), shot photos and video of the EVA, which they gave to Atlantis' crew before departure. Godwin and Clifford first attached clamps on handrails on the outside of the DM, then attached four 0.6-sq-m (2-sq-ft) Mir Environmental Effects Payload (MEEP) space exposure experiments to the clamps. One of the panels was designed to record the frequency of orbital debris impacts on Mir, while a second captured debris particles for later analysis. The last two contained 1000 samples of paint, fibers, optical and metallic coatings, insulation, and other materials to help U.S. ISS designers choose materials. MEEP would be removed and returned to Earth during joint U.S.-Russian EVAs on STS-86, scheduled for September 1997. The astronauts also removed a camera from the DM for return to Earth. Mir and Atlantis were in a warm attitude because the station had to be oriented to keep its solar arrays pointed at the Sun. Godwin said that her hands became almost too warm—at one point she thought that she had turned on her glove heaters. "I was glad to see sunset," she said.
"Mir Spacewalk Set for Atlantis Crew," James Asker, Aviation Week & Space Technology, March 18, 1996, p. 61; "Shuttle-Mir Flight Sets Stage for Station Era," James McKenna, Aviation Week & Space Technology, April 1, 1996, p. 25; The New York Times, March 28, 1996, pp. A1, A13; "STS-76 Mission Control Center Status Report #10," March 27, 1996; "Third Mir Docking: STS-76," Roelof Schuiling, Spaceflight, July 1996, p. 227; interview, David S. F. Portree with Clifford Hess, May 30, 1996; interview, David S. F. Portree with Linda Godwin, June 13, 1996.