Spaceflight Now





BY JUSTIN RAY

Follow space shuttle Endeavour's STS-127 mission to finish assembly of the International Space Station's Japanese segment. Reload this page for the latest updates.

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MONDAY, JULY 20, 2009
The astronauts have completed another successful day in the mission and gone to sleep. Wakeup time for Flight Day 7 will be 6:03 a.m. EDT.

"EVA 2 went very well for us," station flight director Holly Riding said. "It was a great day in spaceflight."

2220 GMT (6:20 p.m. EDT)
EVA ENDS. Repressurization of the Quest airlock module commenced at 6:20 p.m. EDT, marking the official end of today's spacewalk by Dave Wolf and Tom Marshburn.

The EVA lasted 6 hours and 53 minutes. That brings the total time for the two spacewalks conducted thus far during Endeavour's mission to 12 hours and 25 minutes.

It was Wolf's sixth spacewalk in his career working outside both the International Space Station and Russia's space station Mir. For Marshburn, this was his first EVA.

The third of the five planned spacewalks for the Endeavour crew is scheduled to occur Wednesday. Wolf will be joined by Chris Cassidy for that excursion to begin replacing a half-dozen batteries in the station's Port 6 power truss.

2205 GMT (6:05 p.m. EDT)
The astronauts are back inside the airlock. Standing by to close the hatch and begin repressing.
2127 GMT (5:27 p.m. EDT)
As the EVA reaches the six-hour mark, the spacewalkers are preparing to head back to the airlock.
2115 GMT (5:15 p.m. EDT)
Tom Marshburn is working to install these protective sleeves on cables running along the station's docking port. The umbilicals are part of the station-to-shuttle power transfer system.
2035 GMT (4:35 p.m. EDT)
With the spacewalk running behind the planned timeline, Mission Control has decided to wave off installation of a video camera on the Japanese Exposed Facility today. There's not enough time to accomplish that task in this EVA. Instead, the astronauts will spend the rest of the spacewalk putting insulation sleeves around external power cables and stowing away equipment from the station arm.
2031 GMT (4:31 p.m. EDT)
The spacewalkers have bolted down the drive unit, completing today's work to transfer three spare parts from a delivery pallet launched by shuttle Endeavour to the long-term stowage rack on the exterior of the International Space Station.

Stocking the space station with replacement hardware for future use is critical given of the looming shuttle retirement and the vehicles no longer being available to haul up such large pieces of equipment.

2021 GMT (4:21 p.m. EDT)
Installation of the drive unit is underway. This device is a spare for moving the International Space Station's railcar that drives the robotic arm's mobile base up and down the truss backbone.
2017 GMT (4:17 p.m. EDT)
Happy anniversary! Apollo 11 landed on the Moon at this very moment 40 years ago.
2003 GMT (4:03 p.m. EDT)
The spacewalkers have removed the drive unit from the launch carrier.
1957 GMT (3:57 p.m. EDT)
Mission Control says the spacewalkers are running about 45 minutes behind the timeline.
1945 GMT (3:45 p.m. EDT)
The robot arm is swinging spacewalker Dave Wolf back to the pallet for retrieval of the Linear Drive Unit, the final spare part for relocation today. The carrier also contains a half-dozen batteries that will be installed on the Port 6 truss during two upcoming spacewalks.
1937 GMT (3:37 p.m. EDT)
Update stories on the spacewalk and the toilet repairs are posted.
1927 GMT (3:27 p.m. EDT)
Now passing the four-hour mark into today's spacewalk.
1921 GMT (3:21 p.m. EDT)
The spacewalkers have mounted the pump module to the station's external rack. The next item to relocate from the delivery pallet will be a spare drive unit for the station's mobile railcar.
1903 GMT (3:03 p.m. EDT)
This pump is a critical spare for the station's thermal control system that uses ammonina to provide cooling. The external coolant loop and radiators reject the heat generated by station electronics and systems.
1850 GMT (2:50 p.m. EDT)
The spacewalkers have retrieved the second of three pieces of equipment for transfer from the cargo carrier today. This one is a pump module for the space station's cooling system.
1830 GMT (2:30 p.m. EDT)
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1823 GMT (2:23 p.m. EDT)
The backup Space-to-Ground Antenna, or SGANT, has been installed on the International Space Station's spare parts rack. The SGANT provides Ku-band communications between the station and the orbiting network of Tracking and Data Relay Satellites. Television, data and two-way communications for the crew are routed through the station's Ku-band system.

The station's current SGANT is mounted on the Z1 truss. This replacement hardware and its six-foot-diameter dish will be available on the station for use if needed in the years ahead.

1817 GMT (2:17 p.m. EDT)
Wolf has gotten the payload onto the rack. Now Marshburn is holding it in place while Wolf engages a locking bolt.
1805 GMT (2:05 p.m. EDT)
Spacewalker Tom Marshburn has gotten into position to provide visual guidance to Dave Wolf in docking the antenna onto its new home.
1730 GMT (1:30 p.m. EDT)
The communications antenna package has been freed from the pallet for Dave Wolf, perched on the station arm, to carry in his hands over to the stowage location.
1720 GMT (1:20 p.m. EDT)
Both spacewalkers are now at the cargo carrier that was attached onto the space station's mobile base system yesterday after unberthing from Endeavour's payload bay. Over the next few hours, the astronauts will remove a communications antenna package, a replacement thermal control system pump and a drive unit for the station's railcar from the carrier and stow the spare parts onto an external storage rack. The delivery pallet will be returned to Earth aboard the shuttle. The hardware is being pre-staged on the station for use in the future when needed.
1650 GMT (12:50 p.m. EDT)
Dave Wolf has hopped aboard that foot platform he installed on the space station robot arm. He'll be maneuvered around by the arm to unpack the spare parts from the cargo carrier and install the hardware on the station's external stowage rack.
1634 GMT (12:34 p.m. EDT)
The U.S. toilet in the Destiny module has been restarted after repairs, and Mission Control has given the crew the OK to resume use.
1630 GMT (12:30 p.m. EDT)
While Wolf gets the arm ready, Tom Marshburn is over installing a grapple bar on an ammonia tank assembly in preparation for use on the next shuttle mission.
1625 GMT (12:25 p.m. EDT)
Dave Wolf is working to install a foot platform onto the end of the station's robot arm for maneuvering the spacewalker around during the EVA.
1557 GMT (11:57 a.m. EDT)
Inside the International Space Station, the resident crew has completed repairs on the U.S. toilet. The crew will be reactivating the system to see if those repairs have worked.
1552 GMT (11:52 a.m. EDT)
The spacewalkers are getting their tethers and equipment situated before heading to the worksite. Wolf also had to adjust some material on Marshburn's suit that had flipped up and was exposing metal.
1545 GMT (11:45 a.m. EDT)
Both astronauts have emerged from the airlock. This is the sixth spacewalk for Dave Wolf and the first by Tom Marshburn.
1527 GMT (11:27 a.m. EDT)
EVA BEGINS. The spacewalkers switched their suits to internal battery power at 11:27 a.m. EDT, marking the official start time for today's EVA by Dave Wolf and Tom Marshburn. This is the second of five spacewalks planned during Endeavour's mission at the International Space Station.
1524 GMT (11:24 a.m. EDT)
The hatch is being opened.
1508 GMT (11:08 a.m. EDT)
Depressurization has been completed.
1451 GMT (10:51 a.m. EDT)
The airlock hatch has been closed and the depress just began.
1440 GMT (10:40 a.m. EDT)
With assistance from their fellow crewmates, the spacewalkers have floated into the portion of Quest that will be depressurized to exit into space.
1420 GMT (10:20 a.m. EDT)
EVA preparations continue in the Quest airlock module. Mission Control says today's spacewalk could get underway a little ahead of schedule.
1305 GMT (9:05 a.m. EDT)
The spacewalkers have climbing into their spacesuits for today's excursion outside the space station.
1258 GMT (8:58 a.m. EDT)
Astronauts Dave Wolf and Tom Marshburn are preparing for a planned six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk today to move critical spare parts to the International Space Station as a hedge against failures after the shuttle is retired. Crewmates inside, meanwhile, will continue work to repair the toilet in the U.S. lab module after a malfunction Sunday.

Read our morning story.

1255 GMT (8:55 a.m. EDT)
The latest version of the NASA Television schedule (Rev. I) can be downloaded here.
1037 GMT (6:37 a.m. EDT)
On this 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon, the crews aboard the shuttle and station have been awakened for the start of Flight Day 6.

Endeavour astronauts Dave Wolf and Tom Marshburn, both medical doctors, will take a six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk to today to unload a pallet of spare parts for the International Space Station's cooling system, mobile railcar and communications network, plus install a television camera on Japan's new external science facility. The excursion is scheduled to start around 11:30 a.m. EDT.

Read our earlier status center coverage.

STS-127 patch
The official embroidered patch for shuttle Endeavour's flight to finish building Japanese section of the space station.
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Hubble crew
The official embroidered patch for mission STS-125, the space shuttle's last planned service call to the Hubble Space Telescope, is available for purchase.

PATCH
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Expedition 20
The official embroidered patch for the International Space Station Expedition 20 crew is now available from our stores.
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STS-128 patch
The official embroidered patch for shuttle Discovery's flight to deliver equipment and research gear to the space station.
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