Ricky Arnold - WKTV Journal

Spacewalks at the International Space Station have been scheduled for May 16 and June 14.

By WKTV Staff

joanne@wktv.org

Wednesday, May 16, two NASA astronauts are scheduled to venture outside the International Space Station for a six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk, all of which area residents will be able to watch on WKTV Government channel 26. The spacewalk begins at 8:10 a.m.

Expedition 55 Flight Engineers Drew Feustel and Ricky Arnold will be conducting maintenance needs and upgrades for the International Space Station. The two will move a component called a Pump Flow Control subassembly (PFCS) from a spare parts platform on the station’s truss “backbone” to the Special Purpose Dexerous Manipulator (Dexter) robotic arm. The PFCS drives controls the flow of ammonia through the exterior portions of the station’s cooling system. Robotics controllers on Earth will use Canadarm2 and Dextre to perform final installation on the port-side truss for checkout. The spacewalkers will remove a failed PFCS and return it to the spare parts depot. They’ll also replace a camera system on the Destiny Laboratory and a communications receiver.

A second spacewalk has been planned for June 14 in acceptation of the May 24 arrival of the Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo resupply spacecraft. The ninth Cygnus cargo mission is scheduled to launch May 20 from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The launch will be aired on WKTV Government channel 26. Coverage begins at 4:30 a.m. with the launch scheduled at 5:04 a.m.

Stay tune for the development of the Solar Arrays on the Pribital/ATK Cygnus Cargo Craft at 6:15 a.m. followed by a Post-Launch News Conference at around 7:30 a.m.

For more information on NASA TV or the International Space Station, go to www.nasa.gov.

NASTA TV can be seen on the WKTV 26 Government Channel on Comcast and on AT&T U-verse 99 Government Channel 99.

The Orbital ATK Antares rocket, with the Cygnus spacecraft onboard, launches May 20. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

At the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, Expedition 55 crewmembers Drew Feustel of NASA (left), Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos (center) and Ricky Arnold of NASA (right) pose for pictures Feb. 21 during their final day of crew qualification exams. They will launch March 21 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on the Soyuz MS-08 spacecraft for a five-month mission on the International Space Station. Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center/Andrey Shelepin and Irina Spektor

Wednesday, March 21, NASA TV will be featuring the launch of the ISS Expedition 55-56 crew to the International Space Station, which area residents will be able to watch on WKTV Government 26.

NASA astronauts A.J. (Drew) Feustel and Ricky Arnold and cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev of the Russian space agency Roscosmos will launch on the Soyuz MS-08 spacecraft to the International Space Station from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The launch is scheduled for 1:44 p.m.

On Friday, March 23, tune back in to WKTV Government 26 for the docking of the ISS Expedition 55-56 Crew to the International Space Station. Coverage begins at approximately 3 p.m., with the actual docking scheduled for 3:41 p.m.

Next will be the hatch opening with a Welcoming Ceremony for the ISS Expedition 55-56 crew., Arnold, Feustel, and Artemyev will join Norishige Kanai from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Commander Anton Shkaplerov, from the Russian space program, and NASA Astronaut Scott Tingle all of whom are already on the International Space Station. Coverage of this event will begin at 4:45 p.m., with the hatch opening scheduled at approximately 5:20pm.

For more information on NASA TV or the International Space Station, log on to www.nasa.gov.

NASA TV can be seen on the WKTV 26 Government Channel on Comcast and on AT&T U-verse 99 Government Channel 99.