VOLUME 2 Robert C. Treviño Julie B. Ta MONOGRAPHS AEROSPACE IN HISTORY, 50 NO. AN EVA CHRONOLOGY, 1997–2011 AN CHRONOLOGY, EVA WALKING TO OLYMPUS WALKING WALKING TO OLYMPUS AN EVA CHRONOLOGY, 1997–2011 VOLUME 2 Ta I Treviño NASA SP-2016-4550 WALKING TO OLYMPUS AN EVA CHRONOLOGY, 1997–2011 VOLUME 2 Julie B. Ta Robert C. Treviño MONOGRAPHS IN AEROSPACE HISTORY SERIES #50 APRIL 2016 National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA History Program Office Public Outreach Division Office of Communications NASA Headquarters Washington, DC 20546 NASA SP-2016-4550 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ta, Julie B., author. Walking to Olympus: an EVA chronology, 1997–2011 / by Julie B. Ta and Robert C. Treviño. – Second edition. pages cm. – (Monographs in aerospace history series; #50) “April 2016.” Continuation of: Walking to Olympus / David S.F. Portree and Robert C. Treviño. 1997. “NASA SP-2015-4550.” Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Extravehicular activity (Manned space flight)–History–Chronology. I. Treviño, Robert C., author. II. Title. TL1096.P67 2015 629.45’84–dc23 2015030907 ON THE COVER Astronaut Steve Robinson, anchored to a foot restraint on the International Space Station’s Canadarm2, participates in the STS-114 mission’s third spacewalk. Robinson holds a digital still camera, updated for use on spacewalks, in his left hand. (NASA S114e6651) This publication is available as a free download at http://www.nasa.gov/ebooks. CONTENTS Foreword . v Introduction . .vii The Chronology . 1 1997 1 1998 7 1999 15 2000 21 2001 29 2002 41 2003 55 2004 57 2005 61 2006 67 2007 77 2008 93 2009 107 2010 121 2011 133 Acronyms and Abbreviations . 141 NASA History Series. 143 Index . 153 ∕∕ iii FOREWORD s former NASA Chief Historian Roger spaceflight is often considered the greatest chal- ALaunius noted in the foreword to the first lenge in space exploration and EVAs are at the edition of this chronology, one of the most sig- crux of human spaceflight and exploration. While nificant activities conducted in space happens there are still many uncertainties about our even- when humans leave their spacecraft and operate tual human voyages to Mars, there is still at least in spacesuits. Extravehicular activities (EVAs) one certainty: we will need to be able to work require great technical skills, sophisticated tech- successfully outside of the space vehicles and hab- nologies, meticulous planning and training, itats to make that journey. In doing so, we will and careful coordination of human capabilities. inevitably build on the rich history of EVAs that EVAs have not only accomplished significant has enabled us to walk on the Moon, service the work in space that could not be done any other Hubble Space Telescope, build the International way, but they have also yielded enormous knowl- Space Station, and much more. By understand- edge, skills, and experience among the astronaut ing our past successes and limitations, we can and cosmonaut corps about how to work beyond ensure that the best is indeed yet to come. the confines of Earth’s atmosphere. As somebody who has designed spacesuits, Dr. Dava J. Newman pushed technology innovation, and devoted con- Deputy Administrator siderable time to thinking about how humans National Aeronautics and Space Administration can best perform and use tools in space, this pub- lication is intensely interesting to me. Human 14 July 2015 ∕∕ v INTRODUCTION he first edition of Walking to Olympus: An STS-31 on 24 April 1990. Repaired, main- TEVA Chronology (Monograph in Aerospace tained, and upgraded by EVA crewmembers History #7, October 1997) spanned a period over five Hubble Servicing Missions spanning of space exploration of 32 years, from the first 16 years, HST has continued to give the world spacewalks in 1965 to the end of the Shuttle-Mir a whole new view and understanding of our uni- program in 1997. It included EVAs performed by verse thanks to EVA technology, and the hard both Soviet/Russian cosmonauts and American work of the spacewalkers. astronauts. The Soviet/Russian space programs Several key events and themes are notable that involved spacewalks were the Voskhod, during the time period this monograph covers: Soyuz, Salyut, Mir, and Shuttle-Mir. During the building of the ISS, the servicing of the this same time period, the USA space programs HST, and the STS-107 Columbia accident. For that included spacewalks were Gemini, Apollo, those interested in understanding how space- Skylab, Space Shuttle, and the Shuttle-Mir. walkers assembled the various modules of ISS, This second volume ofW alking to Olympus please see Gary Kitmacher’s Reference Guide to continues from the end of the Shuttle-Mir pro- the International Space Station (NASA SP-557, gram in 1997 to the end of the Space Shuttle 2006). Several other publications cover various Program in 2011. It includes not only spacewalks aspects of ISS history, and we also recommend performed by American and European astronauts http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/station/index. and the Russian/Soviet cosmonauts, but also html for more information. Regarding HST his- those of the newest members of the EVA com- tory, there is a selective bibliography online at munity, the taikonauts of the People’s Republic http://history.nasa.gov/hubble/bib.html. The schol- of China (Chinese taikonauts performed their arly starting point on this subject is Robert Smith’s first spacewalk on 27 September 2008). Space The SpaceT elescope: A Study of NASA, Science, programs with EVAs that are included in this Technology, and Politics (Cambridge University second volume are: the Mir and the International Press 1989), which takes the story up to launch; Space Station (ISS) programs (Russia), the Space a follow-up volume covering HST’s operations is Shuttle and the ISS programs (USA), and the being researched and written now. Roger Launius Shenzhou space program (China). and David DeVorkin’s Hubble’s Legacy: Reflections The publication of this second VE A chronol- by Those Who Dreamed It, Built It, and Observed ogy of spacewalks coincides with two major the Universe with It (Smithsonian Press 2014) anniversaries of significance to the human space- is an excellent edited volume of relevant essays. flight community: the 50th Anniversary of VE A The STS-107 Columbia accident on 1 February and the 25th anniversary of the Hubble Space 2003, was certainly a major defining event for Telescope (HST). The HST was launched on NASA in general and human spaceflight more ∕∕ vii viii WALKING TO OLYMPUS: AN EVA CHRONOLOGY, 1997–2011 specifically. For basic background on what hap- The authors gratefully acknowledge the sup- pened and why, a good starting point is http:// port and encouragement by many in the NASA, history.nasa.gov/columbia. contractor, and academia team that makes up Spacewalks have become iconic and still cap- the EVA community. The authors would like to ture the public’s imagination when they see a acknowledge Bill Barry, NASA Chief Historian; human in a spacesuit in the extreme environment Steve Garber of the NASA History Program of space. The phrase “Walking to Olympus” is a Office; the NASA Johnson Space Center symbolic expression of humans inevitably land- (JSC) History Office; the NASA JSC Mission ing on Mars and exploring the planet for Operations Directorate; the EVA Division that humanity, including Olympus Mons, the largest maintains the official times for the EVAs; the volcano in our solar system. NASA JSC EVA Office that also maintains an Roland W. Newkirk, Ivan D. Ertel, and EVA database that was used to cross-reference Courtney G. Brooks’s Skylab: A Chronology information; Richard Fullerton; Keith Johnson; (NASA SP-4011, 1977) was the inspiration for Randall McDaniel; Jeannie Corte; the Crew and this EVA chronology. Its Foreword, written by Thermal Systems Division; and the many con- Skylab astronaut Charles Conrad, Jr., stated, tractors associated with EVA. We also thank the “This chronology relates only the beginning; peer reviewers for their thoughtful feedback; as the best is yet to come from Skylab.” Walking to well as Betty Ta, King Ta, and Matthew Stuhl Olympus also narrates only the beginning, as the whose encouragement was invaluable. best is yet to come from further developments of Thanks are also due to a number of talented EVA technology, as well as the future discoveries professionals who helped bring this project and applications made possible by EVA. from manuscript to finished publication. Editor In keeping with the writing style and tradi- Yvette Smith in the NASA History Program tion of the first volume, this second volume has Office performed her usual outstanding work maintained essentially the same format. Our preparing the manuscript for production. In readers can follow the information more easily by the Communications Support Service Center: noting the definitions and criteria we established J. Andrew Cooke carefully copyedited the text, to maintain consistency in the EVA times, dates, Michele Ostovar did an expert job laying out names, and format of the text. These definitions the design graphically and creating the e-book include the following: version, Kristen Harley thoroughly indexed our Starting with the Space Shuttle Program, EVA work, and printing specialist Tun Hla made sure start and end times are based on the spacesuit’s the traditional hard copies were printed to exact- Portable Life Support System’s Battery On and ing standards. Supervisors Barbara Bullock and Battery Off times during an EVA. Michele Ostovar helped by overseeing all of this Date of an EVA is the day that the EVA starts CSSC production work. since several EVAs start in one day, go past mid- Of course, the authors assume responsibility night, and end the next day. for any error. EVA crewmembers are listed in the order of lead spacewalker and then other EVA crewmem- bers whenever possible.