On Oct. 7, NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman (pictured here) and European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst completed the first of three spacewalks for the Expedition 41 crew aboard the International Space Station. The spacewalkers worked outside the space station’s Quest airlock for 6 hours and 13 minutes, relocating a failed cooling pump to external stowage and installing gear that provides back up power to external robotics equipment. Flight Engineer Barry Wilmore of NASA operated the Canadian robotic arm, maneuvered Gerst during the course of the spacewalk and served as the spacewalk coordinator.

A second U.S. spacewalk is set for Oct. 15. Wilmore will don a U.S. spacesuit and follow Wiseman outside the Quest airlock for a 6-1/2 hour excursion. Gerst will serve as the spacewalk choreographer. The goal of the excursion is to replace a failed voltage regulator component on the starboard truss of the station. They will also move external camera equipment in advance of a major reconfiguration of station modules next year for the arrival of new docking adapters for commercial crew vehicles.

Image Credit: NASA/ESA/Alexander Gerst via NASA http://ift.tt/1sePzrB

NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman checks his spacesuit in preparation for the first Expedition 41 spacewalk in this image, posted to social media by European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst. Wiseman and Gerst will work outside the International Space Station for about 6-1/2 hours Tuesday, Oct. 7. They set their spacesuits to internal battery power at 8:30 a.m. EDT Tuesday morning, signifying the official start of the spacewalk. The spacewalkers will move a failed cooling pump from temporary to long-term storage on the station’s truss. They also will install a new relay system that will provide backup power options to the mobile transporter, which moves the large robotic arm around the outside of the space station.

> Wiseman and Gerst Conduct First Spacewalk of Expedition 41

Image Credit: NASA/ESA/Alexander Gerst via NASA http://ift.tt/1oN3KiG

The launch abort system for the Orion Flight Test is lowered by crane for installation on the Orion spacecraft inside the Launch Abort System Facility, or LASF, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The completed crew and service modules will be tested and verified together with the launch abort system. Orion will remain inside the LASF until mid-November, when the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket is ready for integration with the spacecraft.

Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to destinations not yet explored by humans, including an asteroid and Mars. It will have emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. The first unpiloted test flight of the Orion is scheduled to launch in December atop the Delta IV Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida to an altitude of 3,600 miles above the Earth’s surface. The two-orbit, four-hour flight test will help engineers evaluate the systems critical to crew safety including the heat shield, parachute system and launch abort system.

Image Credit: NASA/Cory Huston via NASA http://ift.tt/Z9buVl