14 DAY TRIAL // At 3:16 am EDT (0716 GMT) this morning, May 20, two members of shuttle Endeavour's crew ventured outside the International Space Station (ISS), on the first spacewalk of the STS-134 mission.
For the shuttle's 16-day stay in space, NASA mission controllers planned four extravehicular activities (EVA), during which a host of maintenance chores will be carried out. Astronauts will also install new instruments on the outer hull of the orbiting lab.
The first EVA is currently being carried out by STS-134 mission specialists Drew Feustel and Greg Chamitoff. The former is a spacewalks veteran, have already performed three EVA during previous missions. This is the first time Chamitoff goes outside the ISS.
This first sortie is scheduled to last about 6 hours and a half. During the first few minutes, Greg Chamitoff will get used to the sensation of carrying out a spacewalk. Until STS-134, he only practiced this in a giant pool of water on Earth.
However, the feeling and sensation is different in space. NASA calls the process of identifying and getting used to these different translation adaption. After he adapt to the new environment, the astronaut will join his colleague in tackling the chores planned.
“I have a couple minutes to do that, make sure I don’t go flinging myself off the station ’cause I’ve pushed too hard,” the rookie astronaut told NASA interviewers before the mission.
The main goal of today's EVA is the recovery of material samples from the Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE). This scientific instrument tests to see how a variety of materials react when exposed to the harsh conditions present in outer space.
“The idea is to expose these things to the harsh environment of space for a long period and see what happens. If the seeds will still germinate, if a paint material will protect what’s below it, see if a circuit can still work and to help us design better systems for the future,” Chamitoff said in the interview.
The first EVA will also see the two astronauts venting off some nitrogen from an ammonia tank, and installing a jumper cable on the component. During the second spacewalk, other astronauts will add some more ammonia to the tank, since the latter has a small leak.
While the spacewalk takes place, the rest of the Endeavour crew, together with their Expedition 27 colleagues, will continue unloading supplies from the shuttle onto the station. The orbiter will depart the orbital lab on May 29, Space reports.