STS-123 MCC Status
Report #20
(20 March 2008) The fourth spacewalk
of the mission, to test a technique for repairing space shuttle thermal tiles,
is only a few hours away for the astronauts on space shuttle Endeavour and the
International Space Station.
Today's wake-up call at 12:28 p.m.
CDT, "Blue Sky" by Big Head Todd and the Monsters, was played for Mission
Specialist Rick Linnehan, who will serve as the spacewalk co-ordinator for
today's 6.5-hour-long excursion by Mission Specialists Robert L. Behnken and
Mike Foreman.
When the hatch on the Quest airlock opens at 5:28 p.m.,
Behnken and Foreman will translate onto the International Space Station's
truss. Behnken will replace a failed circuit breaker called a Remote Power
Controller Module, while Foreman reconfigures cables on a nearby switching box
to provide a redundant power source for the Control Moment Gyroscopes which
control the station's attitude in orbit without the use of
propellant.
The major job for Behnken and Foreman on this spacewalk is a
demonstration of the Tile Repair Ablator Dispenser - a caulk-gun-like device -
to apply a substance called Shuttle Tile Ablator-54 (STA-54) into purposely
damaged heat shield tiles. The test samples will be returned to Earth to
undergo extensive testing on how STA-54 performs in the environment of space.
The work will be done at a worksite the spacewalkers will set up on the nadir
side of the Destiny laboratory.
During the spacewalk other members of
the crews will continue the transfer of supplies from Endeavour to the space
station. Flight Engineer Garrett Reisman has his afternoon blocked out for more
handover discussions with his predecessor, European Space Agency astronaut
Leopold Eyharts, who is coming home with shuttle Commander Dominic Gorie and
his crew.
The next STS-123 status report will be issued after the
spacewalk, scheduled to end at 11:58 p.m., or earlier if events
warrant.
(source: NASA)
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