NASA 'Cable Guys' Take On ISS Spacewalk After Helmet Scare
Source: NBC News
A pair of NASA spacewalkers headed out from the International Space Station on Sunday to finish installing hundreds of feet of cable, four days after water pooled up in the helmet of one of the astronauts at the end of the previous spacewalk.
The water issue sparked concern because a much bigger buildup of water almost drowned a spacewalker in his helmet in 2013 — but mission managers said the problem encountered last Wednesday by NASA astronaut Terry Virts was manageable. They said Virts' spacesuit was known to release a small amount of water condensation into the helmet when the suit is repressurized after a spacewalk.
After 2013's scare, astronauts inspected the spacesuits' water cooling systems, and corroded components were replaced. Spacewalkers also wear absorbent pads on the backs of their necks as a safety measure.
The suits' performance will be monitored closely during Sunday's spacewalk. If a problem comes up, the spacewalk would be terminated, and the two astronauts would get back inside the station immediately.
Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/nasa-cable-guys-take-iss-spacewalk-after-helmet-scare-n315006
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Have been watching the past hour... They are now running cable along the boom to the antennas using copper wire ties to secure the cables to handrails along the boom. All I could think of was for them to be careful of that copper wire so it doesn't accidentally cut through something! Am used to using zip-ties for cable ties.
being used too - notably closest to the antenna sockets (they were already attached to the supports)... These were folded over to secure the cables to a support. I would think they would have some polymer ties that could fit the bill but then I think the idea of the wire ties is ease of tying, un-tying, and re-tying as needed, where zip-ties would probably need to be cut if you needed to undo a tie... and trying to cut something out in space (let alone having anything "sharp" out there) is a no-go. In fact, the CAPCOM during the EV part, was warning them about some of the handholds that had sharp edges.
Ended up watching all the way to the end of the broadcast once they came in, depressurized, got snapped in, had pics taken of the gloves & suits, and finally took off their gloves/helmets with some help from their station mates...!
