14 DAY TRIAL // Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) are currently getting ready for the second extra-vehicular activity (EVA) of the STS-132 mission. After Monday's sortie did not go so well, due to various obstacles delaying the two spacewalkers, mission specialists want to make today's exit count. They will begin at 7:15 am EDT (1215 GMT), to get a head-start, and have sufficient time to deal with all the chores they have planned. This EVA will be performed by NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Michael Good, who both arrived on the ISS on Sunday, aboard the space shuttle Atlantis.
The team “camped” in the Quest Airlock overnight so as to get accustomed to the conditions of outer space. They will exit the room soon, and get to work on installing new solar batteries for the station, as well as on repairing an exterior camera cable. The troublesome piece of equipment made it extremely difficult for the crew aboard Atlantis to conduct their mandatory heat shield inspection on Saturday, a day after launch occurred from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), in Florida. The astronauts now relay on data collected with another, back-up camera, and by the ISS crew, during the back-flip maneuver all shuttles need to perform before docking to the orbital outpost.
It is absolutely vital to fix the video cable that hinders camera operations on the sensor-laden pole shuttle crew members use to inspect the shield. They need to carry out another survey one day before NASA mission planners can give the go-ahead for landing. After the spacewalkers wrap up with the cable operations, they will move to replace several, 360-pound solar batteries on the facility's port solar array, Space Fellowship reports. Three of these devices will be replaced, in a bid to make the solar panels produce even more power for the six permanent residents of the ISS.
Atlantis is currently carrying out its final planned space mission ever. After it returns to Florida, it is scheduled to be processed, and then delivered to a museum. However, this will not take place until November. The shuttle needs to provide back-up for Endeavor's crew, when the spacecraft launches to the ISS. In case something goes wrong in orbit, Atlantis will stand by to assist. The same type of situation happened again in May 2009, only the roles were reversed. Atlantis was in orbit, fixing Hubble, and Endeavor was ready to launch at the Launch Pad 39B facility. The pad is currently allotted to Project Constellation.