Russian Spacewalkers Throw Old Experiment Overboard In Amazing Views From Space Station
Expedition 69 commander Sergey Prokopyev and flight engineer Dmitry Petelin tossed a trio of no longer needed devices overboard, including a spent science experiment, during a spacewalk outside the International Space Station.
Credit: NASA
Credit: NASA
Transcript
00:00 And a view of the cosmonauts working
00:04 to remove the seismoprognose experiment
00:06 from just behind the solar array or one of the solar arrays
00:12 on the Zvezda service module.
00:15 Again, once detached, this experiment no longer providing
00:22 data after almost 10 years of scientific investigations
00:27 of seismic activity back on Earth.
00:29 It will be jettisoned retrograde
00:32 from the space station toward the aft end
00:35 of the Zvezda service module on a trajectory
00:38 that will ensure no potential for recontact
00:41 with the orbital outpost.
00:42 [ Foreign Language ]
00:50 >> So for the jettisoning.
00:53 [ Foreign Language ]
00:55 >> Okay. All right.
01:00 You position yourself against the velocity vector
01:12 and so you should be aiming 45 degrees away from SM module.
01:21 All right.
01:22 Hold on.
01:23 Let me secure myself here first.
01:28 >> As the two cosmonauts position themselves
01:30 in the right orientation for the jettisoning
01:34 of the seismoprognose experiment, this is the view
01:38 from Dmitry Patelin's helmet camera.
01:41 [ Foreign Language ]
01:45 >> Dima can actually hold on to your back
01:48 to make sure you're secure.
01:51 Just in case this is necessary.
01:56 All right.
01:58 I found a place to secure myself to and brace against.
02:04 [ Foreign Language ]
02:09 >> Okay. And I'm removing it and I'm removing mine as well.
02:15 [ Foreign Language ]
02:21 >> Bring it up.
02:23 Copy.
02:24 [ Foreign Language ]
02:31 >> All right.
02:31 It's free.
02:32 Copy.
02:33 [ Foreign Language ]
02:37 >> And jettisoning.
02:39 >> And there it goes.
02:43 >> It was a good, trusty --
02:45 >> Our ballistics officer here in mission control reports it was
02:49 jettisoned in a good trajectory, well away from the station.
02:53 No chance for recontact with the complex.
02:56 So the seismic experiment that has spent almost a decade
03:00 on the International Space Station is now on its own
03:04 to burn up in the Earth's atmosphere.
03:07 [ Foreign Language ]
03:17 >> Wave goodbye to it.
03:19 Rest in peace.
03:21 And we can -- Sergei, you can wrap up photography,
03:28 but please help as well with SVPE monoblock as well.
03:38 Will do.
03:39 >> That jettison occurred at about the two-hour,
03:43 nine-minute mark into the spacewalk.
03:45 The two cosmonauts running about an hour
03:48 and 20 minutes ahead of the timeline.
03:50 >> Expanded.
03:51 All right.
03:54 So --
03:55 [ Foreign Language ]
03:57 >> When we are done with the scheduled imagery,
04:01 we would not need to conserve the battery charge at all,
04:06 and you will have a go to do --
04:08 to keep the cameras rolling as long as you need to or want to.
04:13 Okay. And now we have SVPE with the cables, everything secured.
04:17 The second latch is left.
04:23 [ Background Sounds ]
04:34 >> Next up for the cosmonauts will be the disconnecting
04:40 of a number of connectors and the removal
04:42 of a telemetry system monoblock
04:46 that older telemetry equipment has been mounted on.
04:54 That will be the second in the series of jettisons
04:57 that is expected to occur sometime
04:59 within the next 30 minutes or so.
05:02 [ Foreign Language ]
05:08 >> So for the window, you need to stick to the handrail
05:13 that we recommend.
05:18 Okay. Definitely.
05:20 All right.
05:20 SVPE secured to me.
05:22 Okay. Position yourself then.
05:28 Get ready.
05:28 And the jettisoning vector is going to be the same
05:34 in the direction of the Earth's horizon.
05:37 [ Background Sounds ]
05:40 >> The jettisoned item or items that just took place
05:45 about two and a half minutes ago were both the seismic detection
05:49 experiment and a monoblock or stanchion upon
05:55 which older data transmission system equipment was
05:59 mounted on.
06:02 [ Background Sounds ]
06:24 >> All right.
06:24 I am ready.
06:26 Okay.
06:28 [ Background Sounds ]
06:35 >> It's kind of heavy.
06:39 And you can really feel the inertia.
06:43 Oh, right there.
06:45 Right? Is that looking good?
06:48 Yeah. Well, check.
06:48 It should be 45 degrees.
06:51 [ Background Sounds ]
06:56 >> Okay. So I removed the safety set up.
07:04 Okay.
07:04 [ Background Sounds ]
07:07 >> Sergei, are you recording the video?
07:10 I am.
07:12 [ Background Sounds ]
07:13 >> And jettisoning.
07:14 [ Background Sounds ]
07:31 >> Following the jettisoning of the seismic experiment,
07:34 Prokopyev now has jettisoned the monoblock or stanchion upon
07:39 which it and telemetry equipment were mounted on.
07:44 >> It's kind of slower than the one before.
07:48 >> So this is the second of three planned jettisons.
07:56 >> It's like feeling the importance of its tasks and goals.
08:07 (upbeat music)