Spacewalking astronauts release baby satellite

[Buster's Uncle]

Cosmonauts head outside space station for satellite launch, research
Reuters
By Irene Klotz  24 minutes ago



Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev attends a news conference behind a glass wall at Baikonur cosmodrome March 24, 2014. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov



CAPE CANAVERAL Fla. - A pair of Russian cosmonauts began their workweek on Monday floating outside the International Space Station to toss out a small satellite for a university in Peru, install science experiments and tackle some housekeeping chores.

First out of the hatch was cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev, who stood on ladder outside the station's Pirs airlock to release a 2.2-pound (1 kg), 4-inch (10 cm) cube-shaped satellite built by students at the National University of Engineering in Lima, Peru.

Video broadcast on NASA Television showed the satellite, called Chasqui-1, tumbling away from the back of the station as it sailed about 260 miles (418 km) above the southern Pacific Ocean.

The solar-powered spacecraft, whose name means "messenger" in Incan, is outfitted with visible and infrared cameras to take pictures of Earth and sensors to measure temperature and pressure as it orbits.

Artemyev was then joined by spacewalker Alexander Skvortsov to install a European package of experiments to the outside of the Russian Zvezda module. The experiments include biomaterials and extremophiles, which are organisms that can live in extremely hostile environments. Scientists hope to use information about how the organisms fare in the highly radioactive and extreme temperatures of space to devise life-detection techniques for future robotic Mars missions.

The cosmonauts also installed a reinforcing clamp for a communications antenna they attached during their last spacewalk in June. Monday's to-do list includes taking samples of residue on the outside of some of Zvezda’s windows and setting up an experiment to measure how plumes from rocket engine burns may be impacting parts of station.

Artemyev, Skvortsov and NASA station commander Steve Swanson are five months into a planned six-month mission. Also aboard the complex are NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman, European astronaut Alexander Gerst and Russian cosmonaut Maxim Suraev, who arrived on May 28.

The station, a $100 billion research laboratory for materials and life science experiments, technology demonstrations and other microgravity research, is a partnership of 15 nations that has been occupied by rotating crews of astronauts and cosmonauts since November 2000.

The spacewalk, which began shortly after 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT), is expected to last about six hours.

(Editing by Susan Heavey)


http://news.yahoo.com/cosmonauts-head-outside-space-station-satellite-launch-research-171702284.html

[Geo]

I hope this cubesat was "tossed out" hard enough so it reached another orbit. Else it could collide again with ISS sometime in the future.

[Buster's Uncle]

Spacewalking astronauts release baby satellite
Associated Press
By MARCIA DUNN  10 minutes ago



This photo provided by NASA shows a tiny Peruvian research satellite, right of center, launched by spacewalking astronauts aboard the International Space Station, Monday, Aug. 18, 2014. The satellite, weighing barely 2 pounds, holds instruments to measure temperature and pressure and cameras that will photograph Earth. (AP Photo/NASA)



CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Spacewalking astronauts launched a tiny Peruvian research satellite Monday, setting it loose on a mission to observe Earth.

Russian Oleg Artemiev cast the 4-inch box off with his gloved right hand as the International Space Station sailed 260 miles above the cloud-flecked planet. The nanosatellite gently tumbled as it cleared the vicinity of the orbiting complex, precisely as planned.

"One, two, three," someone called out in Russian as Artemiev let go of the satellite.

Cameras watched as the nanosatellite — named Chasqui after the Inca messengers who were fleet of foot — increased its distance and grew smaller. Artemiev's Russian spacewalking partner, Alexander Skvortsov, tried to keep his helmet camera aimed at the satellite as it floated away.

The satellite — barely 2 pounds — holds instruments to measure temperature and pressure, and cameras that will photograph Earth. It's a technological learning experience for the National University of Engineering in Lima. A Russian cargo ship delivered the device earlier this year.

Less than a half-hour into the spacewalk, the satellite was on its way, flying freely.

With that completed, Artemiev and Skvortsov set about installing fresh science experiments outside the Russian portion of the space station and retrieving old ones. "Be careful," Russian Mission Control outside Moscow warned as the astronauts made their way to their next work site. They also collected samples from a window of the main Russian living compartment; engineers want to check for any engine residue from visiting spacecraft.

The spacewalkers wrapped up their work early. Flight controllers thanked them for their five-hour effort.

The two conducted a spacewalk in June, a few months after moving into the space station. Four other men live there: another Russian, two Americans and one German.

U.S. spacewalks, meanwhile, remain on hold.

NASA hoped to resume them this month after a yearlong investigation but delayed the activity until fall to get fresh spacesuit batteries on board. The SpaceX company will deliver the batteries on a Dragon supply ship next month. Engineers are concerned about the fuses of the on-board batteries.

Before the battery issue, NASA was stymied by a spacesuit problem that nearly cost an Italian astronaut his life last summer. Luca Parmitano's helmet flooded with water from the suit's cooling system, and he barely made it back inside. The investigation into that incident is now complete, with safety improvements made to the U.S. spacesuits.

____

Online:

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html


http://news.yahoo.com/astronauts-conduct-spacewalk-outside-space-station-141357339.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Spacewalking Cosmonaut Tosses Tiny Satellite Into Space for Peru (Video)
SPACE.com
by Miriam Kramer, Staff Writer  2 hours ago



The small Peruvian Chasqui-1 nanosatellite is seen in the hands of cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev just before he tossed the satellite into space during a spacewalk outside the International Space Station on Aug. 18, 2014.



A Russian cosmonaut threw a tiny satellite into the vacuum of space during a spacewalk outside the International Space Station today (Aug. 18).

Cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev threw the Peruvian nanosatellite from the space station about 22 minutes after the spacewalk began at 10:02 a.m. EDT (1402 GMT). His fellow spacewalking cosmonaut, Alexander Skvortsov, took photos of the Chasqui 1 nanosatellite release. NASA broadcast live video of Artemyev tossing the satellite into space during the spacewalk.

The tiny satellite — which measures 4 inches by 4 inches by 4 inches (10 centimeters) and weighs 2.2 lbs (1 kilogram) — is designed to take photos of Earth in infrared and visible light, according to NASA officials.

"That looks beautiful," one of the cosmonauts said of the view of Earth from space while waiting to deploy the satellite.

This isn't the first time satellite have been sent into space from the International Space Station. Astronauts launched fleets of tiny cubesats from the Japanese module on the space station, and in 2006, two crewmembers launched "SuitSat" — a spacesuit repurposed into a satellite — during a spacewalk.

The satellite release wasn't the only job for Skvortsov and Artemyev. The spacewalking cosmonauts were also scheduled to perform some science sample collection work during the six-hour, 15-minute excursion. You can watch the rest of the spacewalk live on Space.com via NASA TV.




Cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev looks on after he released a small Peruvian satellite into space during a spacewalk outside the International Space Station on Aug. 18, 2014.


The two cosmonauts are now working on other assignments involving various science experiments on the outside of the station.

They installed the astrobiology experiment EXPOSE-R2 package from the European Space Agency. Two experiments in the package are expected to investigate extremophiles and biomaterials in the space environment. "Results from these experiments may contribute to life-detection strategies for future robotic exploration of Mars," NASA officials said in a statement.

Among other chores, Artemyev and Skvortsov will retrieve science samples during the spacewalk. One of the experiments set for retrieval, called Biorisk, is designed to collect information about microbes on spacecraft structures, according to NASA. The cosmonauts also collected surface samples from a window on the Zvezda module.

Four other spaceflyers join Artemyev and Skvortsov as part of the space station's Expedition 40 crew. NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman and Steve Swanson, cosmonaut Max Suraev and European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst are also living and working aboard the space station.

NASA recently postponed two United States spacewalks scheduled for the end of August. The pair of spacewalks has been pushed back to the fall in order to retrieve new batteries for the station's U.S. spacesuits. The fresh supplies should launch aboard SpaceX's unmanned Dragon capsule in September.

Today's spacewalk is the 181st in support of the station's maintenance and assembly.


http://news.yahoo.com/spacewalking-cosmonaut-tosses-tiny-satellite-space-peru-video-164445780.html