For the first time in NASA's history, the shuttle was repaired while it was in space. The repair was successful
Avi Blizovsky
Pictured: Steve Robinson arrives at the bottom of Discovery. Photo: NASA TV
Direct link to this page: https://www.hayadan.org.il/discovery0308052.html
The third spacewalk of flight STS-114 entered the history books. This walk is the first ever repair of the space shuttle's heat shields while still in orbit as well as the installation of an external storage platform on the space station.
The entire mission began at 13:48 Israel time and ended at 17:50 (meaning less than half an hour before writing these lines).
The repair of the heat shield in the belly of the shuttle Discovery was quick and according to the plan. Astronaut Steve Robinson removed the protruding filler material between two tiles on Discovery. He simply pulled the lumps of protruding material until they came out.
After the lumps were removed, Robinson said: "It looks like this big patient is cured."
For a video showing the easy operation of pulling out the insulation material
Robinson also photographed the Discovery's heat shield before leaving the area and returning to the shuttle's trunk.
Although only one astronaut could work under the shuttle's underside, the repair efforts required teamwork. His teammate, who also remained outside the shuttle to perform the rest of the planned work in space, Soichi Noguchi provided the communications capability and lighting for both Robinson and the flight controllers.
Another astronaut, Andy Thomas was the spacewalk coordinator. Pilot Jim Kelly and mission specialist Wendy Lawrence activated the station's robotic arm to which Robinson was attached.
As mentioned, the two installed an external storage system on the International Space Station with the help of the station's robotic arm. Noguchi also installed an experiment designed to test the exposure of materials to space, on the outer wall of the station.
The control center in Houston also asked to examine the insulation covering under the Discovery's commander's window. Also, in the remaining time, the Discovery crew helped organize the equipment and supplies in the space station's warehouses.
https://www.hayadan.org.il/BuildaGate4/general2/data_card.php?Cat=~~~230813455~~~188&SiteName=hayadan
