Dec 1 1985
From The Space Library
Astronauts Maj. Jerry Ross of the Air Force and Lt. Col. Sherwood Spring of the Army today stepped outside the Space Shuttle Atlantis on mission 61-B for the second construction exercise in the weightlessness of space [see Space Transportation System/Missions, Nov. 30], the NY Times reported. To TV viewers on earth, the two appeared to manipulate with ease the heavy structures they were building, although both were sweating and breathing heavily after the first 20 minutes of work. Two hours into the spacewalk, they reported that though their hands, feet, and backs were moist with sweat, they were working comfortably.
The purpose of today's spacewalk was the same as previously, to test the efficiency of techniques to build a 45-foot-high aluminum tower. However, the astronauts changed the way they worked and had the assistance of astronaut Dr. Mary Cleave, who was operating the Space Shuttle's 50-foot mechanical arm. She moved the men from place to place as their work required.
Later in the exercise, the Washington Post reported, Ross and Spring took turns stringing cable along the four-story metal frame they had constructed, just as future crews might lay cable for a space station. They also removed parts of the tower and replaced them with other parts, simulating a space repair.
NASA officials commented after the first spacewalk on November 30 that the work had proved more taxing than expected, perhaps because the astronauts' gloves, unlike the rest of their spacesuits, were not air-conditioned and could not carry away excess heat. Most of the work had entailed repeated squeezing and twisting with the hands. Ross and Spring said after the exercise that they would not want to repeat it before having a day of rest. They indicated that the activity had left their hands so numb and fatigued that they had trouble fastening the airlock of the Space Shuttle as they reentered it.
NASA officials did note they were favorably surprised by the astronauts' rapid improvement in performance as they learned from successive repetitions of the exercise. (NYT, Dec 2/85, B6; W Post, Dec 2/85, A3)
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