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hat Boeing Starliner capsule performed quite well this week, but continued to exhibit hydrogen tank leaks (in small volumes). Those leaks, among related issues, led to an about two hour delay in completing the docking with the ISS.
To be sure, the craft is absolutely safe for a return flight, and compressed hydrogen gas, or H2 is a very small molecule. But to be equally sure, these leaks are something to be addressed in re-design and re-engineering sessions. Again, likely delaying the Moon / Mars timeline, for crewed missions. And as we've often said, that's okay, by our lights. Separately, the teams have a schedule for the coming weeks' space walks -- to do repairs and improvements on the ISS structure overall, thus:
. . .NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station will conduct three spacewalks targeted for June. NASA will discuss the upcoming spacewalks during a news conference at 4 p.m. EDT Tuesday, June 11. Live coverage will air on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website. . . .
For the first spacewalk, NASA astronauts Tracy C. Dyson and Matt Dominick will exit the station’s Quest airlock to complete the removal of a faulty electronics box, called a radio frequency group, from a communications antenna on the starboard truss of the space station. The pair also will collect samples for analysis to understand the ability of microorganisms to survive and reproduce on the exterior of the orbiting laboratory.
Dyson will serve as spacewalk crew member 1 and will wear a suit with red stripes. Dominick will serve as spacewalk crew member 2 and will wear an unmarked suit. U.S. spacewalk 90 will be the fourth for Dyson and the first for Dominick. NASA will announce participating crew members for U.S. spacewalks 91 and 92 following the completion of the first and will provide additional coverage details.
For the second spacewalk, astronauts will remove and replace the external high-definition camera located at camera port nine on the orbiting laboratory. This camera is one of several to provide external views of the space station. Additionally, crew members will complete a cable connection fit check for the alpha magnetic spectrometer, a particle physics experiment on the station’s exterior. If not completed during U.S. spacewalk 90, the astronauts will begin by collecting microorganism samples. . . .
[On the final walk,] crew members will remove and replace a rate gyro assembly, which provides data on the orientation of the space station. Astronauts will then attach a support bracket, called a modification kit, in preparation for future installation of the orbiting laboratory’s next International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array on the 2A power channel on the port truss. . . .
Now you know. Onward, grinning -- with the sun giving way to darker rain clouds here now. . . ever, onward.
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