Who wants to watch a spacewalk this morning? https://twitter.com/NASA/status/1354376310638977025

As we tune in, Victor Glover is facing a recalcitrant pin that won't turn. They've run through a couple of variants and are now sending Mike Hopkins over to help.

It sounds like he's going to try bracing Victor, since he's y'know, floating in space.

You'll hear them call Victor Glover "Ike" this morning. If you're wondering how Victor shortens to Ike, it doesn't. That was his call sign in the Air Force and is an acronym.

I.K.E. = "I Know Everything"

Apparently, it started as ITIKE or I Think I Know Everything.

Pilots...

What they're trying to do is to route a cable. If you've ever tried to plug in a cable on the back of your computer, imagine doing that with ski gloves while hanging from a trapeze 250 miles above the Earth.

The trapeze means that you swing away from the ISS every time you push.

Andy says, "we're still discussing down here."

Andy is the CAPCOM and he's responsible for parsing and conveying information from the "backroom" to the astronauts. Each area of specialty has a rep on the floor AND a backroom of more smart people.

So when Andy says "we're still discussing" that means there's a roomful of experts who are trying to sort out options.

Ike is describing the problem so thoroughly because NASA is basically seeing the same picture you are.

Looks like they've swung around to the daylight side, which will help with assessment when they get back to work. Who knows, the temperature difference might--

Oh, nope. They're going to send them elsewhere while the backroom works.

It is vaguely reassuring that tech support asks the same question regardless of distance. "Are you sure it's the right cable?"

I wonder if they've tried turning it off and back on again.

While they work with this cable, I'll also note that this is Ike's first spacewalk, which has got to be frustrating to run into a problem like this.

On the other hand, when something goes wrong and you have to wait on the backroom, you have a nice view.

This is one of the few times on a spacewalk that an astronaut will have downtime to just take pictures and look at the Earth.

I mean, look at that.

You can also see the Dragon capsule in the background, which they rode up on. Getting to see your spacecraft from the outside, in space, is pretty special I've been told.

"Before you connect again, double-check that your safety tether is clear"

The safety tether attaches at the airlock (usually) & spools out as they go. So, if you trap it under a cable, you have to undo everything to get back to the airlock.

"are you thinking good thoughts at the connectors?"

Ahahahah. No. He's a pilot.

He's also on a hot mic. So not only is this frustrating, but cursing isn't an option.

"trouble mating" and "soft dock" and "demate and remate" "we may be bottoming out"

I mean...

Kate is driving the Canadarm, which is a giant robot arm. Ike is in a APFR* on the end of it. So she was letting him know the sequence of movements to expect as they reposition him.

*Articulated Portable Foot Restraint.

You can see Ike in the upper-middle here. He's got a solid attachment to the Canadarm through his feet as well as a safety tether.

But... you REALLY feel the inertia of the arm stopping and starting no matter how slowly and smoothly it moves.

"large small" This is a tether type. It refers to the carabiners on either end of the tether. On one end it's large and on the other it's...wait for it... small.

NASA has either totally prosaic names or completely opaque acronyms. Nothing in between.

"Pass it along the nadir side"

That means on the side of the station facing Earth. Or bottom. Or down.

You'd use it in a sentence like "The enemy gate is nadir."

RET = Retractible Equipment Tether.

"You can grab your PGT"

PGT = Pistol Grip Tool.
It's a drill.

As the ISS goes around the Earth there are several times where it will experience LOS* and this is normal. It just reflects where the relay stations are and passing the signal from one to the next.

*Loss of Signal

I also always recommend following Jonathan McDowell during these. He live tweets as well from a different angle than I do.

I always learn something. https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/1354450193182298113

Darn it. They crossed into night so the cover jettison will be in the dark.

And when we say "jettison" we mean "the astronaut will throw it."

Does anyone else keep hearing COLKa like:

"At the COLKa. COLKa Anteennna.
Science and passion are always in fashion"

To add to today's excitement, Ike's comms are acting up. Hopper can hear him but everyone else is having trouble.

The problem is that he's on the Canadarm. The folks driving it rely on the astronaut to report. They have three monitors, but no depth perception.

Moving an astronaut on the Canadarm, without clear comms, has the danger of getting the geometry wrong and running them into something.

They have decided to give a Go on moving the arm without reliable comms, using Hopper as a relay. The goal is to get him to the jettison position, which will also be easier if they need to stop work and have him get off the arm.

"Glove and HAP check"
HAP = Helmet Absorption Pad.

Periodically, they check the gloves to make sure there isn't any unacceptable wear, ie a hole. If the HAP is damp, that means there's a water leak from the suit's cooling system.

"I copy your copy of my copy"

So, Ike's comms are working again.

"Jettison aft and 30 degrees nadir of structure"

This means, "throw it back and a little down."

It's away! If you watched, his whole body moved in prep on the APFR.

Also, for those writing SF, even with an active throw, it floats away very slowly. The scenario in Gravity where she lets go of the tether? THE PHYSICS ARE SO VERY WRONG.

Ha! The COLKa was having problems so they unplugged it and replugged it. Now it's working.

So I guess turning it off and back on again works everywhere.

"APFR installed on WIF 5 good pull test, black on black."

APFR = articulated portable foot restraint
WIF = worksite interface fixture
Pull test = Literally pulling on it to make sure it's secure
Black on black = a black line which is visible and unbroken in locked position

Since they were able to get the cables to soft dock, but not lock, they solved it by wire-tying them into place.

THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE.

Wire ties--like twist ties on bread. Sure, the wire ties are bigger, but they're just wire.

One of the things you become aware of when watching these spacewalks and looking at pictures of the station is that space sounds really sleek and cool, but the ISS is more like a garage with 20 years of accumulation.

They can't run out to get a new cable so... wire ties.

https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/1354425224486408192

This whole conversation about snack time... So astronauts can't eat on a spacewalk, because, well, space.

They used to have a dried fruit bar in a sleeve that poked up into their helmet. They could grab with their mouth and bit off a piece. The problem...

The problem with the fruit bar is that the very end of it would come loose from the sleeve and then float around randomly inside the suit.

One astronaut came out and his foot was BRIGHT RED because the fruit bar remnant had wound up in his boot and smushed over everything.

They have the water bag in the suit for drinking. They also have a snorkle as well, in case there's a leak with water build up in the helmet so that they can breath air from elsewhere.

When they practice in the NBL, they wind up with chin bruises from the snorkle.

Ooo! A good picture of the food stick. https://twitter.com/Super_Grover/status/1354472564844867584

Just for contrast... I got to watch Victor Glover doing a dev run in the NBL. Basically, a practise spacewalk in a giant pool. Here's a very short clip of him and the three support divers that are there.

Note how blue everything is, because he's underwater.

This is his current working environment. It's the same type of suit, but in the NBL there's constant resistance from the water. Getting things moving is hard.

In space, stopping things is hard.

And space is the densest black, with this glowing world spinning below you.

I think part of why I enjoy watching spacewalks is that everyone is so calm and competent.

It's like the Great @NASA Spacewalk.

Hopper is going to tether to Ike and then move Ike's tether to another spot.

I think they might be getting set up to leap-frog. This is where you use the other astronaut as an anchor point to extend your range.

The thermal cover that he's referring to, at the hatch, is because you don't close the outer airlock hatch during a spacewalk in case you need to make a fast ingress.

The thermal cover is a big quilt that keeps the sunlight out so the temperature stays relatively stable.

Part of why they do so much call and response of rote things like attaching tethers is because they can get a little stupid with fatigue and CO2 levels by the end of a spacewalk.

Everytime they ingress, I think about on how the mockup that they rehearse in, the airlock is upside down. So at the end of the day, when they are most exhausted, they are also having to work inverted.

Ingressing the airlock is one of the places where space is easier. Still tiny, hence their jokes about how "roomy" and "so palatial."

They're back in now and will begin the process of sealing things up and repressurizing.