Jul 18 2009
From The Space Library
NASA astronauts David A. Wolf and Timothy L. Kopra successfully completed the first of the five spacewalks scheduled at the ISS for STS-127. Over the course of 5 hours and 32 minutes, the duo installed the 1.9-tonne (4,189-pound or 2.09-ton) Japanese Exposed Facility (JEF), with the assistance of four crew members, who operated the Canadarm2 from inside the ISS. Koichi Wakata and Douglas G. Hurley used the robotic arm to help remove the structure from the Shuttle’s cargo bay, and Julie Payette and Mark L. Polansky maneuvered it over to Kibo, the Japanese research module. NASA described the JEF as a “type of porch for experiments that require direct exposure to space.” After completing their work with JEF, Wolf and Kopra moved to the ISS truss, to work on attaching two spare-parts platforms. ISS crew had already set up one of the platforms, the Cargo Attachment System. However, during STS-119the crew had experienced difficulty deploying a platform, when a jammed pin failed to release. Wolf and Kopra had used a new tool, built especially for the task, to unfold the platform successfully. The spacewalk was Kopra’s first and Wolf’s fifth.
Jean-Louis Santini for Agence France-Presse, “Endeavour Astronauts Complete First Space Walk,” 19 July 2009; Clara Moskowitz, “Astronauts Add Porch to Space Station,” Space.com, 18 July 2009, http://www.space.com/7007-astronauts-add-porch-space-station.html (accessed 25 August 2011).
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