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CNN Live At Daybreak
Latest on What Atlantis Crew is Up to International Space Station
Aired October 11, 2002 - 06:52 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now we want to get the latest on what the Atlantis crew is up to at the International Space Station. They were doing some construction work yesterday.
Rob Navias joins us by phone from the Johnson Space Center in Houston with an update on what the astronauts are doing today.
Good morning.
ROB NAVIAS, NASA SPOKESMAN: Well, good morning, Carol. Good to talk to you once again.
The crew on board Atlantis up and awake, as well as the crew on board the international space station this morning, ready for a little free time in orbit, some off duty time to kick back and relax a bit and enjoy the view of earth from orbit after a very busy day yesterday.
COSTELLO: Yes, Rob, what do you do, relaxing in space? How do you relax in space?
NAVIAS: Probably float a lot and enjoy the view from 245 miles up, which we're told is breathtaking at all hours of the day or night.
COSTELLO: Unbelievable. Well, they were putting that huge girder in place yesterday. Did all of that go well?
NAVIAS: It all went by the book. There was a seven hour space walk by two of the Atlantis astronauts, Dave Wolff and Piers Sellers. They went by their tasks a little bit more methodical than the time line had called for, but they got it all done, hooking up all of the electrical and data cables for this long, 15 ton truss structure that will be the heart of the cooling capability for the international space station.
A twin of this particular segment is to be launched next month aboard the shuttle Endeavour and the two trusses, when combined and activated next year, will basically provide the air conditioning system for all of the station modules and all of their components.
COSTELLO: Something very important. What will the astronauts do after they take their break today?
NAVIAS: They're going to be spending the first half of the day relaxing. They'll be transferring equipment and scientific experiments from the shuttle to the space station this afternoon. And then tomorrow Wolff and Sellers, at about 10:40 Eastern time, will venture back outside for the second of the three space walks on this mission, to continue the external outfitting of this new truss segment that was installed yesterday.
They'll be installing another television camera on top of the Destiny laboratory, installing some clamps on fluid lines associated with all of the plumbing that goes into the operation of this truss. And they'll be releasing launch restraints and locks that are keeping the huge radiators for this truss in place. One of those three radiators will be deployed on Sunday to test its capability. Those radiators, of course, will provide the actual cooling for the station's systems.
COSTELLO: Oh, it's just amazing. Just a short time ago we were seeing video of one of the astronauts on what looked like a stationary bike. What was he doing?
NAVIAS: That was yesterday. One of the two space walkers, you saw Piers Sellers as he was peddling with an oxygen mask on. Part of the protocol to cleanse nitrogen out of the space walkers' bloodstreams before any space walk and to prevent a condition called the bends from occurring when they step out into the vacuum of space.
That bicycle protocol, peddling 245 miles above the earth in a weightless environment, is designed to increase the metabolic rate for space walkers and thus help cleanse the nitrogen out of their bloodstreams.
COSTELLO: Got you.
Thanks for the explanation.
Rob Navias, thank you very much for joining us this morning from the Johnson Space Center.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
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Aired October 11, 2002 - 06:52 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now we want to get the latest on what the Atlantis crew is up to at the International Space Station. They were doing some construction work yesterday.
Rob Navias joins us by phone from the Johnson Space Center in Houston with an update on what the astronauts are doing today.
Good morning.
ROB NAVIAS, NASA SPOKESMAN: Well, good morning, Carol. Good to talk to you once again.
The crew on board Atlantis up and awake, as well as the crew on board the international space station this morning, ready for a little free time in orbit, some off duty time to kick back and relax a bit and enjoy the view of earth from orbit after a very busy day yesterday.
COSTELLO: Yes, Rob, what do you do, relaxing in space? How do you relax in space?
NAVIAS: Probably float a lot and enjoy the view from 245 miles up, which we're told is breathtaking at all hours of the day or night.
COSTELLO: Unbelievable. Well, they were putting that huge girder in place yesterday. Did all of that go well?
NAVIAS: It all went by the book. There was a seven hour space walk by two of the Atlantis astronauts, Dave Wolff and Piers Sellers. They went by their tasks a little bit more methodical than the time line had called for, but they got it all done, hooking up all of the electrical and data cables for this long, 15 ton truss structure that will be the heart of the cooling capability for the international space station.
A twin of this particular segment is to be launched next month aboard the shuttle Endeavour and the two trusses, when combined and activated next year, will basically provide the air conditioning system for all of the station modules and all of their components.
COSTELLO: Something very important. What will the astronauts do after they take their break today?
NAVIAS: They're going to be spending the first half of the day relaxing. They'll be transferring equipment and scientific experiments from the shuttle to the space station this afternoon. And then tomorrow Wolff and Sellers, at about 10:40 Eastern time, will venture back outside for the second of the three space walks on this mission, to continue the external outfitting of this new truss segment that was installed yesterday.
They'll be installing another television camera on top of the Destiny laboratory, installing some clamps on fluid lines associated with all of the plumbing that goes into the operation of this truss. And they'll be releasing launch restraints and locks that are keeping the huge radiators for this truss in place. One of those three radiators will be deployed on Sunday to test its capability. Those radiators, of course, will provide the actual cooling for the station's systems.
COSTELLO: Oh, it's just amazing. Just a short time ago we were seeing video of one of the astronauts on what looked like a stationary bike. What was he doing?
NAVIAS: That was yesterday. One of the two space walkers, you saw Piers Sellers as he was peddling with an oxygen mask on. Part of the protocol to cleanse nitrogen out of the space walkers' bloodstreams before any space walk and to prevent a condition called the bends from occurring when they step out into the vacuum of space.
That bicycle protocol, peddling 245 miles above the earth in a weightless environment, is designed to increase the metabolic rate for space walkers and thus help cleanse the nitrogen out of their bloodstreams.
COSTELLO: Got you.
Thanks for the explanation.
Rob Navias, thank you very much for joining us this morning from the Johnson Space Center.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
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