Preflight
Interview: Michael Massimino
The
STS-109 Crew Interviews with Michael Massimino, mission specialist.
Just
to kind of get to know you a little bit. When did you decide to
become an astronaut? And what made you want to take that career
path?
I guess I started
dreaming about becoming an astronaut when I was 6 years old. That
was a time when they were putting people on the Moon. And that made
a big impression on me. And I thought it was the coolest thing going
on, the most important thing happening was, you know, astronauts
and people traveling into space and going to the Moon. And that
stayed with me, I guess, for a long time. But it really wasn't until
I started getting toward the end of my college education that I
started thinking about, "What am I going to do with my life?"
And then, I kind of thought about my little kid dream of working
in the space program or trying to become an astronaut. And that's
when I started thinking about it a little more seriously, of maybe
not being lucky enough to be an astronaut (because I knew that was
a tough thing to achieve), but at least maybe getting a career in
the space program, working for NASA, getting involved with the space
program. So I decided to go to graduate school and get involved
with space-related research. I worked with NASA during the summers
and met a lot of people and learned as much as I could. And I started
applying to be an astronaut when I was in graduate school. And came
down to the Johnson Space Center, worked for a contractor after I graduated, and was lucky enough to get an interview while I was
down here. The first time I interviewed, NASA said, "Nah, you
know, well, why don't we try again?" And I did that; and the
next time, I got an interview and was lucky enough to get selected.
So as far as being a decision, it really wasn't a decision. It was
more like a dream coming true. So it was really quite a thrill to
get the phone call when it happened.
That's
cool. Okay. What's been your most memorable experience, if you can
pick just one? Or maybe a couple since becoming an astronaut.
Yeah. There's
a lot of them! You know, before I was here, I was a college professor.
I really enjoyed that job. And I've done some interesting things.
But nothing has come close to what I get a chance to do here. And
typically the way I think of it: I get enough memories in a day
or two that will last me for a year when I was doing something else.
It's just that kind of job. I mean, every day I get to do something,
something that's extraordinary. Flying in a T-38 for the first time
was an awesome experience! And flying around clouds in a T-38 for
the first time with one of my friends here, with the pilots here,
is just incredible. It's like, you know, you feel like you're in
heaven! It's just beautiful. Something you wish you could share
with everybody. So I can only imagine what it's going to be like
to look down on the Earth from space. Probably the most memorable
thing that comes to mind right now is…when I found out I was
going to be on STS-109. When I found out that, you know, that my
bosses wanted me to be a part of the space walking team and part
of the crew that was going to go to the Hubble on the next servicing
mission, you know, that was quite a moment. It was like one of those
moments that stay with you, you'll never forget. You know exactly
where you are, what time, what was going on, what you were wearing.
I'll never forget that.
Can
you talk a little bit about that?
Yeah, sure.
Where
were you? What happened?
All right.
You asked. But typically…when big news comes in my house, I
was in the bathroom. And Steve Smith, who's a good friend of mine
and neighbor, he is also at the time was assistant chief, deputy
chief of our office. So it's not uncommon for him to come by my
house, because, you know, he's a friend and a neighbor. But this
was a little bit early he came over. And I, you know, I was in the
bathroom. I don't know what I looked like (we probably want to leave
that out). But I went up to, you know, to the door, you know, my
wife, Carole said, "Hey, Steve's at the door." And he
told me that they wanted me to go to Hubble, you know, be a space
walker and on a next servicing mission. And I just was thrilled!
I really couldn't believe it. In fact, I really thought I didn't
hear right at first. You know, I figured he had gone to the wrong
house or something. This just couldn't be happening. I think it
stayed that way, even until this day, I still can't believe this
is actually happening. I'm that fortunate to get a chance to do
this. But that's how I found out. And I was pretty excited that
I found out at home because my wife was there and my kids still
hadn't gotten off to school. So we were all together when we found
out and that made it kind of nice, too. And got a chance to call
my folks and tell everybody that this was going to happen.
What
do you imagine it's going to feel like when you actually make that
first translation out of the airlock?
I don't know.
I've tried to, you know, I spoke to guys on my crew who have done
it and to a lot of guys around the office, trying to prepare myself
for it. I don't know. I think the one thing, for the first few minutes,
what I'm really counting on is that my training in the pool will
kick in. …Some of the guys I've spoken to have said, "You
feel like you're in the pool. If you can, if you feel comfortable
in the pool, in our, the Neutral Buoyancy Lab, which is where we
do our space walk training, if you feel comfortable in that environment,
you're going to feel comfortable when you get to space." But
you know, I've thinking, "Yeah, this is a big difference! You
know, doing it on the ground, you know, in the water; you know,
that's one thing. Going to space is a much different environment!"
But I'm going to just try to rely on what I've learned and try to
just take it slow, and try to work myself into it. And then I'll
try to gradually work up to the realization of where I am and just
kind of build up to myself feeling comfortable where I can maybe
move a little bit with more authority. But I don't know. I think
it's probably going to be one of those experiences that's just going
to kind of be beyond my comprehension. That, "Holy cow! How
did this ever happen?
Who
were or still are some of the most influential people in your life?
And how did they influence you in your career decision?
I've had a…I've
been fortunate to have a lot of people help me out and influence
me and steer me in the right direction. High school teachers, college
professors, my advisor when I was in graduate school, bosses that
I've had here that, you know, still today. But probably the most
influential people have been my parents. My mom and dad, you know,
they were the ones who brought me up, always encouraged me when
I was dreaming about being an astronaut when I was a little kid.
They used to take me to the New York Planetarium in New York City
and to the library and let me stay up to watch the lunar landing.
And, you know, they were just wonderful at teaching me how important
it is to work hard and to do your best and to, you know, try to
associate yourself with good people that are going to make you a
better person and to learn from everybody. And I think those are
the things that stay with me even today. And combining that with
my wife, who's always helped me out and given me good advice and
being a good friend, I guess those are the folks that have influenced
me the most in my life.
When
all is said and done and you guys have refurbished the Hubble or
done when you do up there, personally and professionally, what impact
do you think that's going to have for you? Just in general terms,
if you could synopsize that.
Well, I'm going
to have to get lots of pictures, because knowing me, I'm probably
not going to believe that I actually did it. So I'm going to want
film and pictures to prove that I actually was part of this thing.
'Cause I think, you know, being part of this, of any space flight
and in this flight that we're preparing for, you know, I think it's
going to be something that's going to be hard for me to believe
that I actually did! That's the way I look it. And personally, I
think for me, since this was something that I wanted to do for a
long time and something that I really thought could never happen,
you know, I never, I dreamt about it but you know, I was so old,
you know…how the heck can you ever become an astronaut? How
could this ever happen to me? I'm just some knucklehead kid from
New York. Now, how could I actually ever…how did this ever
happen? To actually have it happen and to hopefully have it happen
successfully I think is going to be something for me that will be,
I guess, a real inspiration, a story that I'm going to be very happy
with. That dreams do come true. And that's something that I would
tell my own kids and other kids as well. And I guess that's probably
going to be my reaction is that, "Wow, you know, this is, this
is a dream that came true."
We'll
get into talking a little bit about the mission now. Can you talk,
just give an overview of the objectives of the mission, the goals,
and just a little bit of background about what achieving those goals
will accomplish for the Hubble.
Yeah. We're
going to be launching, rendezvousing, grappling the telescope. And
then we're going to be conducting these five space walks. And that's…my
major role is going to be, being one of the space walkers. And what
we have planned to do for the space walks is we're going to first
go out and replace the solar arrays on the first two space walks.
We're going to be putting new solar arrays on, that's the major
task for the first two EVAs. The third EVA, we'll be taking a power
control unit out and putting a new Power Control Unit in. That's
our major task for that day. Then, the fourth day, Jim Newman and
I will be going out again. We're going out on days 2 and day 4.
On day 4, Jim and I will be taking an old instrument that's not
used any longer and putting a new one in, the Advanced Camera for
Surveys. So that's our major activity on day 4. Then, on day 5,
John and Rick will be going out for the third time; on the fifth EVA day, they'll be putting in a new cooling system for an infrared
camera that's one of the big instruments on Hubble. So that's kind
of a synopsis of what we'll be doing on those 5 EVA days.
On
flight day 3, you mentioned that you guys are going to rendezvous
and eventually grapple the telescope and bring it into the payload
bay. Can you take us through that scenario and kind of highlighting
what you'll be doing for that event?
My major job
on that day is going to be as a, the backup, robotics operator.
Nancy Currie is our primary robot arm operator. And I'll be her
backup. So I work with her to do that. So when, Nancy will get the
arm in position; I'll be getting the right displays up for her,
checking the computer displays, getting information that both of
us need to make sure everything's going well. Then I'll be helping
her out when she goes and grapples the telescope and secures it
to the robot arm and also for the berthing operation after she grabs
it with the arm. After Scott Altman has gotten the orbiter in the
right position so she can grab it, we'll be then berthing it into
the payload bay. I'll be backing her up and helping her with that.
And then after we have the telescope secure in the payload bay,
the plan is for me then to release it from the robot arm and then
perform a series of surveys around the telescope to make sure we
know what it looks like. That'll prepare us for space walks and
for other activities, and also to provide information on what the
condition of the telescope to the folks on the ground. So that's
kind of the basic synopsis of the activities for that day.
Okay.
For me, anyway.
If
you envision the mission unfolding, what activities do you see that
will be the most challenging? And why?
I think, for
me, from what I've learned…in our preparation, I think the
space walks are going to, for me…that's the major activity
that I'm involved in. And it's not just when you're outside performing
the space walk with your partner, but it's also when you're inside
when the other team of guys are out there, doing their job. And
that, in some ways from what I found in our training, can be just
as demanding as when you're actually out there doing it because
you're looking through the checklist, you're watching the timeline,
you're trying to work the choreography of the EVAs, work with them.
And when things are going well in our training, it almost feels
like it's a four-person team out there. There's two guys outside,
but the folks inside are helping out and really I'd say it's a seven-person
team because we have Nancy Currie on the arm and you know, Scooter,
Scott Altman, our commander, and Duane Carey, our pilot, are going
to be working with us as well. So it's really a team effort getting
those EVAs done. And I think doing those five EVAs, one day after
the other, I think that's going to be pretty challenging. We have
to go out there, do the job, get the guys back in, get the equipment
ready for the next day, go to bed, wake up, and go out there and
do it; and do that five days in a row, I think is going to be pretty
challenging.
When
you guys are done servicing the Hubble, you'll eventually ungrapple
and deploy it and let it go. Can you talk through that scenario
and talk about what you'll be doing and how that will go?
Yeah. For that
day, what we've worked out, the plan is going to be for me to go
in and go to grapple the telescope while it's still berthed and
then do the unberth, take it up out of its latches, out of the payload
bay. And then Nancy will take over. She'll fly the robot arm with
the Hubble attached to a release position. And she'll release the
telescope, and then Scooter will back the orbiter away from the
telescope, and we'll take our last pictures and get our last memories
of looking at it and head back home.
Okay.
A little bit about the ACS. What can you tell us about what this
camera does and why it will be beneficial to Hubble?
Yeah. The scientists
that have [spoken] to us about it are really excited about this.
We've had an opportunity to go to the Space Telescope Science Institute
and have other astronomers who work with Hubble come and talk to
us about the significance of this. And…they're very excited
about it. Hubble has gotten some wonderful images and has produced
some great science over the years that it's been in space. But what
these guys are expecting is a significant increase in the performance,
scientific performance, of Hubble. They're looking at the increase…the
capability of Hubble by a factor of ten. So it can see things ten
times further, ten times quicker. It's going to be a great improvement
in what they're able to see. And it's, that's amazing because what
they're able to do with Hubble now has been so beneficial. So we're
all very excited about what that might do. And Jim and I are going
to be the two guys outside, putting the ACS into the telescope.
So you know, we've worked many hours in the pool to make sure we
know all the little details we need to know to make sure we can
get the instrument into the Hubble successfully so it can do its
job for the scientists.
Speaking
of that, what does it mean to you to be able to be part of that
EVA, handling that piece of equipment when it's the most important
component? And what concerns do you have?
Well, I guess
the concerns are probably obvious. You know, we want to make sure
we do our job right; and it's a pretty delicate instrument. It makes
me feel pretty fortunate to be given that role. If I think about
it that it's just me, like if you asked the question, it's just
me doing it, I don't…that's probably not so very good deal.
You know, I wouldn't, it's a big job. You want to make sure you
do it right. So what, the way I think about it is: I really think
of our team doing it. And it's not just, you know, me with Jim Newman…this
is going to be my first flight. But Jim's had other flights and
many space walks. So he and I working together as a team outside,
I feel very comfortable with. And with the guys inside, looking
over our shoulder, making sure we're doing the right thing, that
whole crew inside is going to be helping us out; plus all the folks
on the ground, they're going to be helping. So when you asked me
that question at first, and how do I feel about it? I probably feel
a little uneasy if I think of it as just me. But when I think about
all the folks, all the preparation we've had, I actually feel pretty
fortunate that all of us together are going to be doing this and
that I'll be one of the guys out there actually touching the instrument
and making sure it's in correctly. So it's a big responsibility,
but it's also quite an honor to get a chance to do this.
Can
you shed any light on the main differences in, I guess, form and
function of the solar arrays that are the ones that are currently
on there [and] the new ones?
Yeah, the ones
that are currently, the solar arrays that are currently on the telescope,
are like solar array blankets. And they're on the…these blankets
are extended out from a big reel. You know, that, that's the way
they've been extended. And they have these kind of flexible poles
that hold them in place. So they can wobble a little bit. And the
way we're going to, when, we're going to take them off, the plan
is to have them roll back up and we're going to remove the solar
array and stow it, and then put the new one on. And the new ones,
as opposed to being flexible blankets, they're rigid arrays. And
they unfold, kind of like a, you know, like a, just like a big book,
say, will open up. Well, these two halves will open up once we insert
it. And instead of having flexible poles that deploy these blankets,
they're rigid solar panels that are around, you know, that big rectangle
of metal that will keep them rigid so…we don't them expect
them to shake or deform at all. Plus, it's newer technology. In
solar arrays, technology has advanced a lot in the years since the
old arrays have been put on. So we're expecting them to be much
more efficient, increase the capability of Hubble so they can run
their instruments, more frequently, have more power to do the experiments.
So we're expecting, a big improvement with the new solar arrays
going on.
On
to the EVAs. On flight day 4, John and Rick are scheduled to go out and begin the series of space walks. Can you take us through
the timeline for EVA-1? Particularly what you and Jim are going
to be doing on the IVA side inside? And and will those things on
IVA days for you change from day-to-day at all?
Yeah, they
will. The first day, what'll happen is Jim will be the primary IV
crewmember, which means he'll be the person starting off and doing
most of the talking to the crew. And I'll be working with him, looking
at our checklist and making, you know, seeing where we are on the
timeline, trying to anticipate where we're going. If they encounter
anything that's unusual, meaning, you know, we have a power tool
that we're using that we're going to turn different bolts to take
things off and put things on, well, say as an example, if we find
a bolt that won't loosen the way we expect it to, we have a what
we call a "crib sheet" that'll help us for that, say that
particular bolt that they're working on, we can find, "All
right, it's not turning the way we expect. What can we do?"
And I'll be looking at that sheet and feeding that information to
Jim. And Jim will be the primary source of information for the guys
outside doing the choreography, keeping them on the timeline. I'll
be working with him. We switch those roles when we're outside. John and Rick will be doing that for Jim and I on days 2 and 4. And on
days 3 and 5, it'll be similar except that on day 5 what we're planning
for is for me to be the primary IV person, that I'll be doing more
of the talking to the crew and Jim and I will be working together
to, you know, look over the information, try to make sure we can
help them as much as we can while Jim and Rick are out there, doing
their job outside.
Okay.
It's going great.
Okay.
You're
doing good. Okay, on flight day 5, you and Jim are scheduled to
conduct your space walk, to install the solar arrays--
On flight day
5.
Yeah.
The second EVA.
Yeah.
Which
is a procedure that John and Rick started on EVA-1. Can you talk through that timeline? Telling me what you and Jim are going to
do, and spell out any differences between EVA-1 and EVA-2.
Sure. The major
differences between the two are that on the first EVA John and Rick have some initial setup that they have to do so we can do our work
over the next five EVAs. They're going to install a post that's
going to help support the telescope. They're going to get a foot
restraint that we install inside of the robot arm. They're going
to get that all set up. They're going to kind of set up the payload
bay so that we can do our work. And that's the, that's one of the
major differences at the beginning. And towards the end of the EVAs,
Jim and I are going to be doing some setup and preparation for future
EVAs on the flight. So the beginning and ends of the EVAs are where
you find they're dissimilar on EVAs 1 and 2. The big, major functions
of them are very similar in that we're going to be taking an old
array off and putting a new array on. The difference there is that
they're going to be doing one side of the telescope (there's two
arrays; they're going to get one side), we're going to get the other
side. But the basic tasks are very similar. As far as what we're
going to be doing on EVA-2, that's my first day outside of the spaceship.
So Jim will go out first and make sure everything's all right. And
you know, make sure the coast is clear. And get me set up to egress
the airlock for the first time. And then, the plan is for me to
do some translation adaptation which means I'll have about 15 minutes
to try to get my space legs out there where I'm going to go very
slow and we have a test plan worked out where I'm going to maneuver,
so I'll decide to go up and down and sideways and you know, Jim,
I'm sure, will be looking out the corner of his eye, making sure
I, that I'm doing okay. And you know, the guys inside will be watching
me. And so what we'll do that for the first little bit. And I'm
sure that'll be quite an experience! And once I feel comfortable,
I'll get on to the robot arm, on the foot restraint on the robot
arm. Nancy will position that so I can get in. And then, she'll
take me off to our first work site. And the basic plan for the day
is that we're going to remove the old solar array. This is what
we plan to do. Remove the old solar array and stow that down on
the, on a carrier that we have on the shuttle, and then bring out
a new array. The new array and hook that up into the telescope.
And then, deploy it and make sure everything is working properly.
We're also going to put a new diode box controller on there as well
for the new array, which will also be an improvement.
EVA-3 is the only space walk that's currently timelined for more
[than]--
Yeah.
--6½
hours. Why is it expected to take so long?
It's a task
that involves us performing a lot of connector demates where we
have to unhook a bunch of, we have 36 connectors that need to be
undone. And then we have to remove that box, and then we're going
to put a new one in and again, hook it back up with all these connectors.
So there's a, it's going to take a certain amount of time to get
all that done. Working in the space suit; working in that environment
isn't as easy as it would be if we were able to do this, you know,
in your garage. So that, we're expecting that to take some time.
Plus there's a lot of preparation work ahead of time because we're
going to be removing the, a power control unit. We're going to be
shutting off the power to the Hubble. So to do that, we have to
disconnect the batteries first. We have to make sure some of the
equipment in the bays that are, usually get power are covered…so
they…won't get too cold when we turn the power off. So there's
a lot of preparation [that] has to be done. And then, again after
we hook the, when John and Rick hook the power, the new control unit up, then we have to undo all that stuff that we did. We've
got to hook, they've got to put the batteries back on, and they've
got to remove everything that, the covers that they put on to protect
the thermal properties of these different components. So all that
considered, we think that it might…it might run a little long.
However, they've demonstrated in the pool that we can do it well
within the time, the 6½ hours that we're supposed to be able
to do the EVA in. So we're not necessarily anticipating that it's
going to go long, but because we have all those items to take care
of, we're saying, "Well, this one might be a little bit longer
than expected." So we've tried to buy ourselves a little margin
of planning to make sure we'll be okay.
Can
you talk a little bit about your understanding of the breakout plan
that just, the idea behind it? And what it's for.
Yeah. It's
if we run into a situation on that EVA, on EVA-3, where for whatever
reason we need to stop before we get everything connected, we have
a series of scenarios. Because there are some vital connections
through that power control unit that need to be made to keep the
telescope alive and working, there were certain, [there are] certain
connections that need to be made or the ones that don't necessarily
need to be made. So if we find ourselves in a situation where we
can't complete all of it in that one day, what we'll do is we'll
have John and Rick hook up whatever our minimum number of connectors are. (Excuse me.) And then, they'll kind of set things up, close
it out, and come back in. And then, Jim and I will go out the next
day and finish off what needs to be done to complete that task.
So it's a plan that we have just in case we couldn't get the job
done, we have these different options that we have on that one day.
Because we'll, you know, planning to be there for the next day,
too. We'll just go back out and have Jim and I finish it up.
Why
is the successful completion of EVA such a critical thing for the
telescope?
For EVA-3?
Or, for, --
For
the PCU.
For the PCU
day, for the third day, well the, you know, if, not that the other
ones aren't as important. But if, you know, if something happens
where, you know, if an instrument isn't working quite right or a
solar array isn't generating as much power, let's say the telescope
is still alive. It's still producing, you know, science. It's still
able to do its job with other instruments. [There are] many instruments
inside of the telescope. But the power control unit is something
that affects everything. It affects the telescope's ability to generate
power, which means, its control system, you know, its pointing system,
its ability to keep all the instruments alive and working, to produce
science, is all, everything is related to the Power Control Unit.
So we need to be able to perform that task successfully in order
to keep the telescope working.
Good
answer. On flight day 7, you and Jim are back outside Columbia for
EVA-4.
Yeah.
Can
you take us through that time, and--
Sure.
--explain
what you'll be doing.
On that day,
now that's the second EVA that we'll be doing. The second one in
my life. So I'm going to, the plan is to send me out first. And
I'll get us set up, and then Jim will come out and get on the robot
arm, and Nancy will maneuver him for the first part of that EVA.
And what we'll be doing, that day is, we'll be opening up the doors
to the telescope. The, what we call the aft shroud doors, which
are these big doors where the big scientific instruments are. And
there are four spots for these scientific instruments. The Hubble
can support up to four of these, what we call, axial scientific
instruments. And they're about the size of a telephone booth. So
we're going to, first thing we're going to do is get the one, the
old one in there that isn't working any longer. We're going to pull
that one out. So we're going to open up the doors, remove the old
instrument, and put in a temp stow location. And then Jim and I
are going to be hooking up something called the…a C.A.S.H.
harness. It's a harness that's a big pole that we're going to put
inside of the telescope that's going to bring power from one end
to the other end. And that's really a setup for the EVA-5, for the
NICMOS cooling system day. But after we get the big telescope out
and the…after we get the old instrument out and temp stow it,
our next major task will be to get the new instrument out (the ACS,
the Advanced Camera for Surveys). So we're going to open up its
carrier, this big door, and undo the bolts that keep it in there.
And Jim will then grab it on the robot arm; and Nancy will maneuver
him to the lip of the telescope. I then will get set up near the
telescope and help guide the instrument in. We've got these little
guide drills that it'll slide on and it'll go right in there, hopefully.
And then we're going to latch it down and hook it back up, so it
can transmit its data down to the ground. And we'll close the doors
and leave it at that; and hopefully we'll find out that everything
we hooked up okay and checked out all right and all these great
pictures will be able to flow back to the Earth.
All
right. Late last year, I guess, something happened with Hubble to
kind of change the complexion of the mission. Can you talk a little
bit about what happened? And how it's been, having to change gears
and prepare for that task at this point in your training?
Yeah, well,
right before Christmas, before I left for Christmas vacation, we
got word that the reaction wheel, one of the reaction wheels on
Hubble was going to need to be changed out. And so at that time,
which was just a, I guess, a week before Christmas or so, we were
told that we were going to have [to] fit this into our EVA somewhere.
And they were going to, they wanted to put it on EVA-2, which was
a day that Jim Newman and I were going to be putting in a solar
array. So it, we had, it's been done before. They actually were,
changed out a reaction wheel on STS-82. And everything we heard
from the guys who had done it before was that [it] was pretty straightforward
to take the old box and do an exchange with the new box, and put
the new box where the old box was. So we kind of went over the scenario
and learned about the, what the reaction wheel was and how it was
hooked up. And then we had a chance to run it in the pool, practice
in the pool a couple of times. And it seemed to go fine. And we've
also gone to the Goddard Space Flight Center to take a look at the
replacement unit. So very quickly they were able to bring us up
to speed and tell us what had to be done, show us what the hardware
was going to be like, and start getting us trained for it. So that's
what we found out and you know, very quickly people were able to
find a place to put it and get us ready to do it.
You've
had a lot thrown at you on your first mission. And to have this
thrown into the mix--
Yeah.
--what
has it been like, you know, having to refocus and--
It really hasn't
been, you know, it's funny. I think with all the training we've
had, and it's been great training, you know, the Goddard team is
just an awesome team! They've done these flights before. It's a
real special group of people, very dedicated. And along with our
training team here at the Johnson Space Center, they've gotten us, I think they've gotten us pretty well ready to do lots of different
tasks that might come up during the mission. So when this task was
explained to us, it really isn't that much unlike other tasks that
we do. We open up a bay door, like we do on other EVAs. We undo
bolts, like we do on other days, and connectors. And we have to
be cautious with the connectors. And there's a few things that you
have to be really careful with. But you know, we've been trained
to do all those basic fundamental skills, we've been trained on.
So it's just kind of combining a few different things that we've
learned in other areas. And we want to do a handoff of this box
like we do with other replacement units on the flight. So that was
similar. So really what, it really wasn't that much different (I
don't think) from other things we're doing. It was just an added
task. I think the challenge was, "Where are we going to find
the time to do this with all the work we're already doing?"
And they were pretty creative in rearranging things and they found
a place where it would fit. So the task itself, is, compared to
what we know we've done and the training we've had, fits in (I think)
pretty nicely from our skills that we've been working on in the
last, you know, the last year, year and a half. And it was just
finding out how we were going to, you know, choreograph it and make
it fit time-wise.
Can
you go ahead and take us through the steps of that particular part
of the EVA to replace the RWA?
Sure. Yeah,
the plan is, we're going to finish up our solar array task, which
means we'll take the old solar array off of the, one of the solar
arrays off on our day, on the second EVA day, and we'll put the
new one. And after that's done, the plan is for me to go to the
SSM bay, to the bay where this reaction wheel is. Jim will go down
to a carrier, down in the payload bay. And I will undo the doors
to open up this door to get access to the reaction wheel. Jim will
open up the carrier and get the replacement reaction wheel that
we're going to put in. The new one. I will then unhook a few of
the bolts (there's three bolts that keep it in), and I'm also going
to unhook two connectors and two heater connectors that allow the
reaction wheel to work and provide pointing for the Hubble. So we'll
unhook that stuff. And then, I'll be tethered to it of course. So
you know, we don't happen to lose it. And we don't plan to do that.
We want the old one; we want to bring back. So I'll grab that and
take it out. And then, Nancy will fly me; I'll be on the arm. So
Nancy will fly me on the arm down through where Jim is, down in
the payload bay; and we'll do an exchange. Jim will give me the
new one; I'll give him the old one. Then Nancy will take me back
up, to that same bay…that we were at, that same equipment bay.
And I'll carefully put the new reaction wheel in, tie down its three
bolts, and then I'll hook up its connectors and its heaters and
take a couple of closeout photos and close the door, and button
up the door, and it'll be done. And we're figuring all that should
take somewhere about an hour to do that whole scenario.
So
you'll basically be up there by yourself, installing it?
Yeah, I'll
be on the arm.
Okay.
And Jim will
be down at the…carrier getting the new one out and then putting
it, once I give him the old one, he'll put the old one away. And
then, if there's any time where, say for example, Jim finishes early,
he'll be able to come up and you know, give me a hand and make sure
everything's going okay. And you know, we'll watch out for each
other when possible. But predominantly, the main thing is: I get
the old one out; Jim gets out the new one; we swap them; he puts
the old one back; and we'll take it back to Earth with us. And I'll
put the new one in.
Now,
is the latch kit still on the timeline? Or, is that--
The latch kit
has moved. Yeah, we were going to do the latch repair kit on that
day, on day 2. And right now that has moved to day 5.
Okay.
And day 5 is
the day they actually need to get into those doors where we're putting
those latches on. And so instead of just going and opening the door,
which was the previous plan, they decided to put the latch kit on
there. If they need to put the latch kits on those doors that are
opening on day 5, then they'll do that first and then get access
inside of the bay. So it's a, you know, it's a bit tricky to fit
all these things in. You know, we'll see how the flight goes. We
have a, I think, flexibility and cross-training where if time, well,
if some, we've got a patch time; we can get ahead, maybe, on the
latch kits, we might try to do that earlier. But right now, the
plan is to do the latch kits on day 5; and that's the day they actually
need access to that door. We were doing it on day 2 as a get-ahead
task to give those guys a head start, to save them some time on
day 5.
Okay.
So that's where
they put that.
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