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Mission accomplished on 7-hour spacewalk

In this image from NASA TV, space shuttle Discovery Mission Specialist Steve Robinson can be seen suspended from Discovery's robotic arm during a space walk Saturday. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
John Johnson Jr. Los Angeles Times
In this image from NASA TV, space shuttle Discovery Mission Specialist Steve Robinson can be seen suspended from Discovery's robotic arm during a space walk Saturday. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

HOUSTON – Like a couple of weekend homebodies with a lengthy to-do list, two shuttle astronauts spent nearly seven hours in space Saturday successfully tidying up and making household repairs to the International Space Station.

After days of worries about insulating tile damage, foam anomalies and other problems, day five of Discovery’s mission focused on the majesty of spaceflight and the workaday routine of cable and wiring repair.

“What a view,” said Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi as he stepped out of an airlock.

NASA spacewalk experts joked that the handrail outside the airlock is dented from astronauts hanging on for dear life as they experience the moving-kelp-like effects of seeing Earth 220 miles below.

But Noguchi and his partner, Stephen Robinson, performed flawlessly on their 6 hour and 50 minute spacewalk, known in NASA terms as an “Extra-Vehicular Activity,” or EVA.

“We’re proud to welcome Steve and Soichi to the EVA hall of fame,” said mission spacewalk manager Cindy Begley, referring to a hallway at the Johnson Space Center in Houston lined with the pictures of astronauts who have completed spacewalks.

Despite getting started an hour late, at 5:46 a.m. Eastern time, the spacewalkers accomplished everything they set out to do, and more.

The day began with the crew being awakened by a Japanese song called “Sanpo,” or “Strolling.” Two of Noguchi’s children were part of the choir that sang.

The two spacewalkers began in the shuttle cargo bay, testing methods to repair heat-resistant tiles and carbon reinforced panels. Discovery brought along several pre-damaged tiles and panels for the purpose.

Robinson used a caulk-gun-like device to spread a material called NOAX on cracked panels, while Noguchi daubed a thinner substance called an emittance wash on the tiles.

Engineers won’t know for sure how well the substances worked until the crew returns to Earth and the repaired tiles can be examined.

After the tests, the astronauts affixed an attaching device for the External Stowage Platform, a kind of backyard toolshed that will be installed on the space station during a spacewalk Wednesday.

Robinson worked to restore power to one of two faulty gyroscopes on the space station, an important job because four gyroscopes keep the station oriented and two have failed. A third has been performing spottily.

Robinson bypassed a faulty circuit breaker to get the device operating again. A spacewalk on Monday will be used to replace the other failed gyroscope with a new one brought from Earth. Noguchi replaced a faulty global positioning antenna.

While Noguchi and Robinson were walking in space, pilot James Kelly maneuvered a robotic arm with laser cameras to take close-up scans of the delicate carbon reinforced panels on the leading edges of the left wing.

The camera revealed blemishes and scuffs on seven areas. NASA said the damage was “very minor.”

Deputy shuttle program manager N. Wayne Hale Jr. said Saturday that engineers had evaluated and cleared 26 dings and divots found on the tiles covering 90 percent of Discovery.