14 DAY TRIAL // After Saturday's glorious extra-vehicular activity (EVA), which saw a large number of tasks, and then some, being fulfilled in a very short time frame, Atlantis astronauts took to space again today. Robert Satcher, Jr and Randy Bresnik, the NASA astronaut who just got a new baby girl on Sunday, are currently outside the station, in order to perform the third and final spacewalk of the STS-129 mission. The activity is scheduled to last for about 6 and a half hours, although, if things go the way they did Saturday, we could see it ending a lot faster than anticipated, Space reports.
Both of the two astronauts that have stepped out on a spacewalk today are on their second such activity, but hopes are high that they will managed to troubleshoot all of the issues that may present themselves during their exit. The main goal of the Atlantis flight is to deliver spare parts for the ISS, which will be stored on the outpost's outer full, in especially-designed compartments. Additionally, more maintenance work will also be conducted, so that the Atlantis crew leaves the station in the best possible shape, when it leaves. Spacewalkers will also prepare specific compartments for the February 2010 addition of Node 3, dubbed Tranquility, the latest European-built space module to be delivered to the facility.
A high-pressure oxygen tank will be installed near one of the station's airlocks, and a suitcase-like experiment will be added to the outer hull. Atlantis is also carrying two very special experiments, one that aims to test two new types of nanomaterials, and another one that aims to teach children back on Earth about how microgravity affects the growth of butterflies. During today's EVA, astronauts will also check the shields that protect the ISS from microasteroids for signs of damage or overuse, which may prompt their replacement. “We're looking forward to that and I'm definitely looking forward to getting out and doing another spacewalk,” Satcher said on Sunday.
“My training as a surgeon, I think, has actually helped me in terms of being able to do the spacewalk. A lot of the point of being able to do a spacewalk is the ability to stay focused and multi-task in a strenuous environment, in a spacesuit that is really miniature spaceship,” explains Satcher, who is the first ever orthopedic surgeon to go to space. Atlantis will separate from the ISS on Wednesday and, if everything goes according to plan, the shuttle will land in Florida on Friday. Until then, it also has to perform the second heat shield inspection maneuver on Thursday, which will show its level of safety.