Russian Spacewalkers Throw Old Experiment Overboard In Amazing Views From Space Station

Space.com

Expedition 69 commander Sergey Prokopyev and flight engineer Dmitry Petelin tossed a trio of no longer needed devices overboard, including a spent science experiment, during a spacewalk outside the International Space Station.  Credit: NASA

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00:00 And a view of the cosmonauts working

00:04 to remove the seismoprognose experiment

00:06 from just behind the solar array or one of the solar arrays

00:12 on the Zvezda service module.

00:15 Again, once detached, this experiment no longer providing

00:22 data after almost 10 years of scientific investigations

00:27 of seismic activity back on Earth.

00:29 It will be jettisoned retrograde

00:32 from the space station toward the aft end

00:35 of the Zvezda service module on a trajectory

00:38 that will ensure no potential for recontact

00:41 with the orbital outpost.

00:42 [ Foreign Language ]

00:50 >> So for the jettisoning.

00:53 [ Foreign Language ]

00:55 >> Okay. All right.

01:00 You position yourself against the velocity vector

01:12 and so you should be aiming 45 degrees away from SM module.

01:21 All right.

01:22 Hold on.

01:23 Let me secure myself here first.

01:28 >> As the two cosmonauts position themselves

01:30 in the right orientation for the jettisoning

01:34 of the seismoprognose experiment, this is the view

01:38 from Dmitry Patelin's helmet camera.

01:41 [ Foreign Language ]

01:45 >> Dima can actually hold on to your back

01:48 to make sure you're secure.

01:51 Just in case this is necessary.

01:56 All right.

01:58 I found a place to secure myself to and brace against.

02:04 [ Foreign Language ]

02:09 >> Okay. And I'm removing it and I'm removing mine as well.

02:15 [ Foreign Language ]

02:21 >> Bring it up.

02:23 Copy.

02:24 [ Foreign Language ]

02:31 >> All right.

02:31 It's free.

02:32 Copy.

02:33 [ Foreign Language ]

02:37 >> And jettisoning.

02:39 >> And there it goes.

02:43 >> It was a good, trusty --

02:45 >> Our ballistics officer here in mission control reports it was

02:49 jettisoned in a good trajectory, well away from the station.

02:53 No chance for recontact with the complex.

02:56 So the seismic experiment that has spent almost a decade

03:00 on the International Space Station is now on its own

03:04 to burn up in the Earth's atmosphere.

03:07 [ Foreign Language ]

03:17 >> Wave goodbye to it.

03:19 Rest in peace.

03:21 And we can -- Sergei, you can wrap up photography,

03:28 but please help as well with SVPE monoblock as well.

03:38 Will do.

03:39 >> That jettison occurred at about the two-hour,

03:43 nine-minute mark into the spacewalk.

03:45 The two cosmonauts running about an hour

03:48 and 20 minutes ahead of the timeline.

03:50 >> Expanded.

03:51 All right.

03:54 So --

03:55 [ Foreign Language ]

03:57 >> When we are done with the scheduled imagery,

04:01 we would not need to conserve the battery charge at all,

04:06 and you will have a go to do --

04:08 to keep the cameras rolling as long as you need to or want to.

04:13 Okay. And now we have SVPE with the cables, everything secured.

04:17 The second latch is left.

04:23 [ Background Sounds ]

04:34 >> Next up for the cosmonauts will be the disconnecting

04:40 of a number of connectors and the removal

04:42 of a telemetry system monoblock

04:46 that older telemetry equipment has been mounted on.

04:54 That will be the second in the series of jettisons

04:57 that is expected to occur sometime

04:59 within the next 30 minutes or so.

05:02 [ Foreign Language ]

05:08 >> So for the window, you need to stick to the handrail

05:13 that we recommend.

05:18 Okay. Definitely.

05:20 All right.

05:20 SVPE secured to me.

05:22 Okay. Position yourself then.

05:28 Get ready.

05:28 And the jettisoning vector is going to be the same

05:34 in the direction of the Earth's horizon.

05:37 [ Background Sounds ]

05:40 >> The jettisoned item or items that just took place

05:45 about two and a half minutes ago were both the seismic detection

05:49 experiment and a monoblock or stanchion upon

05:55 which older data transmission system equipment was

05:59 mounted on.

06:02 [ Background Sounds ]

06:24 >> All right.

06:24 I am ready.

06:26 Okay.

06:28 [ Background Sounds ]

06:35 >> It's kind of heavy.

06:39 And you can really feel the inertia.

06:43 Oh, right there.

06:45 Right? Is that looking good?

06:48 Yeah. Well, check.

06:48 It should be 45 degrees.

06:51 [ Background Sounds ]

06:56 >> Okay. So I removed the safety set up.

07:04 Okay.

07:04 [ Background Sounds ]

07:07 >> Sergei, are you recording the video?

07:10 I am.

07:12 [ Background Sounds ]

07:13 >> And jettisoning.

07:14 [ Background Sounds ]

07:31 >> Following the jettisoning of the seismic experiment,

07:34 Prokopyev now has jettisoned the monoblock or stanchion upon

07:39 which it and telemetry equipment were mounted on.

07:44 >> It's kind of slower than the one before.

07:48 >> So this is the second of three planned jettisons.

07:56 >> It's like feeling the importance of its tasks and goals.

08:07 (upbeat music)

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