Today I had a short task in the afternoon that required me to measure the airflow velocity at a ventilation outlet in ATV, our European cargo ship.
ATV is docked at the aft docking port of the Russian Service Module, which makes it the furthest place we can go to from the non-Russian modules of the Space Station. And this is not a small Space Station! From the most forward module, Node 2, where our crew quarters are, it’s about 70-80 meters back to ATV. Since we operate on a pretty tight schedule here, having to go back and forth can cause delays, that’s why I really try to make sure I have everything I need before I head down there. However, as an additional measure, I am proud to say that I have optimized the flight path. And here’s my conclusion, in case you’re curious: the fastest way to ATV from the forward modules is flying belly “up” towards the overhead.
Plenty of good handrails in the Lab and Node 1, plus when you arrive to PMA, the adapter element between the Node and the Russian segment, the deck slopes up and the passage becomes quite narrow: if you’re flying on the overhead, though, you can keep on going straight.
Then there is the FGB, which is a lot of fun: it’s like a long narrow tunnel with closely spaced handrails along both walls. In the FGB overhead or deck wouldn’t matter, but once you get into the Service Module, the overhead is where you want to be: the deck and the walls are full of equipment and stowed items that would force you to slow down. Plus the Service Module interior design is made very much with a virtual “up and down” in mind, so Sasha, Anton and Elena are mostly feet on deck. By flying overhead, I can stay above their heads and get to ATV without getting in their way.
OK, that was probably more detail than you wanted to know. Sorry, I got carried away. But these little things really make a difference up here. Like figuring out the best way to stabilize yourself at a worksite: it’s something that we stress a lot during EVA training, but I have found that it is just as important inside.
Today I had a tough one: I had to remove a used cartridge from the Material Science Laboratory rack, which is located on the Lab overhead. But the neighboring wall has the frame of the CEVIS in front of it (our space bike), which is free to move to avoid transmitting load into structures and hence doesn’t provide a stable hold. The other wall has the Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR), which was also “floating” for an experiment run and was not to be touched at all. And the nearby rack fronts along the overhead have plenty of equipment and cables. Quite a challenge!
And sometimes the only way to get stabilization is to have a crewmate help. We’re not shy up here about asking to hold on to somebody’s leg when needed.
Futura mission website (Italian): Avamposto42
avamposto42.esa.int
(Trad IT) Traduzione in italiano a cura di +AstronautiCAST qui:
https://www.astronautinews.it/tag/logbook
(Trad FR) Traduction en français par +Anne Cpamoa ici:
https://spacetux.org/cpamoa/category/traductions/logbook-samantha
(Trad ES – Currently not updated) Tradducción en español aquí:
https://www.intervidia.com/category/bitacora
23/12/2014