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Cosmonauts reach Soyuz work site and cut into insulation BY WILLIAM HARWOOD STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION Posted: July 10, 2008 After running into problems anchoring his feet on the end of a telescoping boom, cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko tethered himself to the mechanical arm and held on while crewmate Sergei Volkov moved him down to the Soyuz TMA-12 spacecraft. Kononenko, wielding a serrated knife, then began sawing through multi-layer insulation like a surgeon to expose one of five connectors that hold the Soyuz propulsion module to the crew section of the spacecraft. The goal of the unprecedented space operation is to unlock the connector and remove one of two redundant explosive bolts to help engineers figure out what caused module separation problems during the two most recent Soyuz re-entries. "We feel sorry for the vehicle," one of the spacewalkers said before Kononenko began cutting into the insulation. "I don't think we're damaging it." "OK, I do want to hope so." Crystal clear video from a NASA camera mounted in Kononenko's space helmet showed the cosmonaut sawing into the insulation, cutting a ragged tear in the material. As he pulled the multi-layer insulation back, Kononenko reached inside to verify the location of cables and connectors, looking like a surgeon carrying out invasive surgery. Numerous pieces of insulation drifted away from the wound as he continued cutting. "Be careful with the cutter," a Russian flight controller warned. "You don't want to damage your glove. It's better to go slowly and surely." After extending the cut enough to permit access to the pyrobolt in the suspect connector, the cosmonauts took a break to catch their breath and to give flight controllers a moment to discuss the upcoming procedure. Television from Kononenko's helmet cam clearly showed the electrical cables leading to the two pyrobolts in the connector. So far, the spacewalkers have not reported anything unusual or out of the ordinary. "I do not see anything offensive or criminal," Kononenko said through an interpreter as he initially approached the work site. But watching Kononenko cut through the protective insulation just inches from electrical lines and cables was disconcerting to observers more familiar with NASA spacewalks, in which astronauts are seldom allowed to do anything even remotely as invasive. But Russian engineers have been unable to figure out what caused the recent re-entry problems and today's work may shed light on what might be needed to prevent similar problems in future entries.
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VIDEO:
AIRLOCK HATCH CLOSED TO CONCLUDE THE SPACEWALK 