SHUTTLE CREW AFFIXES DUST-CATCHERS TO SPACE STATION.Byline: Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Two spacewalking astronauts hung the orbital equivalent of flypaper on the Russian space station Mir on Wednesday to collect cosmic grit. It was the first time in 22 years that Americans worked outside a space station. ``It doesn't get any better,'' shuttle astronaut astronaut, crew member on a U.S. manned spaceflight mission; the Soviet term is cosmonaut. Candidates for manned spaceflight are carefully screened to meet the highest physical and mental standards, and they undergo rigorous training. Linda Godwin said during the spacewalk Verb 1. spacewalk - move in space outside a space craft walk - use one's feet to advance; advance by steps; "Walk, don't run!"; "We walked instead of driving"; "She walks with a slight limp"; "The patient cannot walk yet"; "Walk over to the cabinet" . Space shuttle space shuttle, reusable U.S. space vehicle. Developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), it consists of a winged orbiter, two solid-rocket boosters, and an external tank. Atlantis and Mir are docked in orbit more than 250 miles above Earth. Godwin and Michael ``Rich'' Clifford spent most of their six-hour spacewalk clamping dust catchers dust catcher n. Informal A little-used decorative object or piece of furniture. and other debris experiments to Mir's docking tunnel. NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. wants to see how much and what kind of debris is whizzing past Mir to better protect the future international space station. Spacewalking astronauts will retrieve the dust catchers in 1997 and return them for analysis. Godwin and Clifford were dwarfed by the Atlantis-Mir complex as they clambered up the orange docking tunnel to install four experimental panels. The panels, each 2 feet square and 6 inches deep, hold 1,000 samples of paint, fibers and metallic and optical coatings being considered for the exterior of the international space station, as well as a translucent material to trap microscopic debris. They also have gold, aluminum and zinc plates to record slightly bigger micrometeorite mi·cro·me·te·or·ite n. A tiny particle of meteoric dust, especially one of many that fall to the surface of the earth or moon. Noun 1. hits. It was a laborious process. The spacewalkers almost banged the panels together while installing them, and their long tethers kept getting in the way. NASA insisted Godwin and Clifford also wear jet packs in case their lifelines broke. Because Atlantis was docked, it could not dash after a wayward astronaut. Six sets of eyes watched the first-time spacewalkers from close range: the three NASA astronauts inside Atlantis and the two Russian cosmonauts and NASA astronaut Shannon Lucid Shannon Matilda Wells Lucid (born January 14, 1943) is an American astronaut who previously held the record for the longest duration stay in space by a woman. She has flown in space five times including a prolonged mission aboard the Mir space station. inside Mir. While installing the panels, Godwin and Clifford tested new tethers and work platforms designed to fit both U.S. and Russian spacesuits. The pair did not venture beyond Mir's 15-foot docking tunnel. The Russians, afraid of damage to solar panels and other delicate station parts, had warned them not to go past the tunnel. With no spacewalking experience at a space station since Skylab in 1974, NASA considered Wednesday's work essential. Astronauts and cosmonauts will have to perform hundreds of hours of spacewalks a year to build and maintain the international space station, starting in just a few years. The spacewalk was the last big event before Thursday night's undocking. Lucid will remain on Mir when Atlantis pulls away, conducting science experiments on the station for the next five months. |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion