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Spacewalking Astronauts Finish Extensive, Tricky Cable Job

Posted by samzenpus on from the good-work-larry dept.

An anonymous reader writes news about a three-day cable job completed outside the International Space Station. "Spacewalking astronauts successfully completed a three-day cable job outside the International Space Station on Sunday, routing several-hundred feet of power and data lines for new crew capsules commissioned by NASA. It was the third spacewalk in just over a week for Americans Terry Virts and Butch Wilmore, and the quickest succession of spacewalks since NASA's former shuttle days. The advance work was needed for the manned spacecraft under development by Boeing and SpaceX. A pair of docking ports will fly up later this year, followed by the capsules themselves, with astronauts aboard, in 2017."

22 comments

  1. Goat sex finishes tricky anal dildo job by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    Sex in space? That gaping hole is called a wormhole, ds9!

  2. Was one of them named ... by CaptainDork · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... Larry?

    --
    It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
    1. Re:Was one of them named ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No. But it does amaze me the lengths people go through to get their sports.

    2. Re:Was one of them named ... by PPH · · Score: 1

      Git 'er done!

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
  3. Amazing stuff! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    Simply awesome! Swapping cable looms in the upper atmosphere!

  4. Awesome! by EvilSS · · Score: 2

    Now let them rest a bit then send them to Arizona

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    I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
  5. Thrilling by amightywind · · Score: -1

    Thrilling. All so in 2 years we can do the same amount of nothing up there with the Russian Mafia as we are doing today. Our space program sucks, starting with the $3 billion the US sets alight annually to keep this white elephant traveling nowhere.

    --
    an ill wind that blows no good
    1. Re:Thrilling by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      Space itself sucks. It's a deadly, empty vacuum. This fact escaped the early NASA concept artists and has poisoned the minds of generations of nerds into thinking space is this amazing thing.

      It's not. It's a dead end.

    2. Re:Thrilling by briancox2 · · Score: 1

      Thank you for correcting our interest in space.

      I'm sure all of humanity will never again wonder if they can travel through it.

      --
      We should learn what we need to know about issues, before we decide what we need to feel about them.
    3. Re:Thrilling by hey! · · Score: 1

      Yeah, cause Mars Exploration Rover, GRAIL, Dawn, New Frontiers, Solar Dynamics Observatory, the Spitzer and Kepler telescopes, all those things are boring science. Only nerds find things like discovering Earthlike exoplanets or determining the origin of the Moon thrilling. They should get their own news site so the rest of us don't have listen to stuff that only matters to them.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    4. Re:Thrilling by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We can. We've done it. Now what? We also know its size and emptiness. So what?

    5. Re:Thrilling by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Excuse me, and the connection to the ISS?

    6. Re:Thrilling by hey! · · Score: 2

      It doesn't. The parent said our space program sucked. I was pointing out that for a program that sucks it does some pretty awesome stuff.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    7. Re:Thrilling by tsotha · · Score: 2

      Of course it doesn't suck. You need air for suction.

  6. Why new cabling? by Ken_g6 · · Score: 2

    Considering (unmanned) SpaceX Dragon capsules already regularly dock with the space station, why do they need new cabling for what is essentially the same operation?

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    (T>t && O(n)--) == sqrt(666)
    1. Re:Why new cabling? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      The cargo Dragons do not dock independently. They basically fly close to the station and are then grappled by the space station robotic arm, which then maneuvers the docking port into alignment.

      The new Dragons (manned and unmanned) need a special docking system for alignment and approach to docking.

      P.S. Where is the login screen for Slashdot? Please don't tell me I need a Google+ account to log in.

    2. Re: Why new cabling? by Zeussy · · Score: 3

      Also the crew capsules will be staying docked for months at a time. The Dragon v2 is not going to have big extending solar arrays like the current dragon, instead it will have some solar panels wrapped around the trunk. While it is docked and can't keep its attitude aligned to keep these panels in the sun it will need power from somewhere.

      --
      Automation - The Car Company Tycoon Game
  7. Be careful! by briancox2 · · Score: 2

    There are satellites exploding up there!

    --
    We should learn what we need to know about issues, before we decide what we need to feel about them.
    1. Re:Be careful! by BenJaminus · · Score: 1

      Wish I hadn't re-watched Gravity last night now!

  8. Prepare for something AMAZING! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    nT

  9. Helmet water by tsotha · · Score: 1

    Once safely back inside, Virts reported a bit of water in his helmet again for the second time in as many spacewalks. He stressed it was “not a big deal” and said there was no need to hurry out of his suit.

    What's with the water? I thought they had this problem fixed.

  10. Competition by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    AT&T and Comcast immediately filed suit claiming unfair competition from a government agency, stating they were planning on installing their own fiber network "any day now".