| Astronaut Wakata's training report (9) |
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Extravehicular Activities in STS-92 mission
Four EVAs are being planned for STS-92 mission. This will be the first
time in ISS assembly missions that four EVAs are planned for one flight.
The EVA team is planning to spend six and a half hours for one EVA. The
team has been studying very hard to effectively utilize the limited EVA
time. The first and the third EVAs will be conducted by astronauts Leroy
Chiao and William S. McArthur, and the second and the fourth EVAs will
be by astronauts Peter Wisoff and Michael Alegria. For detail click here.
Offering a scaffold for EVA crew
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APFR
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BRT
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Astronaut Wakata
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It is very important for a crew member conducting an EVA to fix his/her body.
If you try to fasten a bolt in microgravity without fixing your body,
your body will begin turning around with that bolt as the center of
the motion due to the rule of action and reaction. A Body Restraint
Tether (BRT) and an Articulating Portable Foot Restraint (APFR) are
used to fix EVA crew member's body.
During the STS-92 mission, astronaut Koichi Wakata will mate the Z1
truss and the PMA-3 to the ISS using the robot arm. He will also have
the very important role of supporting the EVA crew members during four
times of EVAs. For the STS-92 EVAs, there are not enough locations to
attach BRTs and APFRs, nor are there enough handrails. An APFR will
be attached at the end of the robot arm operated by astronaut Wakata
to offer a scaffold for an EVA crew member, and the EVA crew member
will be moved to the working location as well. Such support is also
one of astronaut Wakata's important roles. As a robot arm operator,
astronaut Wakata must know not only robot arm operations but also the
EVA procedures. Cooperation with the EVA crew members is also very important.
Training at Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory nearing its end
The fourth EVA training session was held in the Neutral
Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL)s on August 22. Astronauts Peter Wisoff
and Michael Alegria donned space suits to train themselves under water,
and astronaut Wakata supported their EVA by operating the robot arm.
The training conducted in NBL is nearing the end of its schedule. During
the training the astronauts reconfirmed mutual roles, and arranged and
confirmed the procedures for the last time.
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