ISS astronauts take spacewalk to reinstate Canadarm2 part

Spacewalking astronauts are giving the International Space Station’s large drudge arm a new hand.

NASA Commander Randy Bresnik and Mark Vande Hei floated out Thursday morning to reinstate one of dual Latching End Effectors (LEE) on a Canadarm2. The travel is approaching to final about 6 hours. It’s a initial of 3 NASA spacewalks planned over a subsequent dual weeks. 

The latching resource on one finish of a 17.7-metre Canadarm2 malfunctioned in August. It needs to be transposed before an Orbital ATK supply boat launches in November.

Canadarm2 has dual identical LEEs that are used to squeeze visiting spacecraft, as good as provide information and telemetry to a rest of a Canadian-built Mobile Base System. This gold of latches — some-more than a metre prolonged — also attaches to fastener fixtures outward a space station. That way, a arm can pierce like an inchworm opposite a sprawling structure. 

Canada’s robotic arm, a Canadarm2, that is partial of a International Space Station’s Remote Manipulator System, is graphic with a Earth in a credentials during a daytime orbital pass on Apr 16, 2017. (NASA)

The Canadian-built arm has been in circuit for 16 years. The dual latching mechanisms, one on any finish of a arm, have been used scarcely 400 times, and engineers attribute a new difficulty to wear and tear. 

It was a initial spacewalk for Vande Hei, a rookie wanderer who arrived during a orbiting outpost a few weeks ago. 

“Congratulations, my friend, on apropos a 221st tellurian to exit in your possess personal booster into a blank of space,” said Bresnik, a maestro spacewalker. “Now behind to work.”

“Exactly,” Mission Control radioed. “Slow and steady, and go get ‘er done.” 

As a twin worked, they marvelled over a views of Earth below and a full moon above. 

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Article source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/canadarm2-spacewalk-to-replace-lee-1.4329141?cmp=rss