XA/EVA Project Office Weekly Activity Report May 24, 2001
STS-104/7A Stage Operational Readiness Review (SORR)
The EVA Project Office participated in the STS-104/7A Stage Operational Readiness Review (SORR) which was held at JSC on May 18, 2001. The readiness of the EVA equipment to support this EVA intensive and crucial mission was reviewed with ISS management. The EVA open actions reported and were found
to be in accordance with typical open actions that remain open preflight at the time of this review, less two areas. Open ISS certification remains on some EVA contingency support equipment (SSP certified battery chargers and associated cables) to facilitate backup EVA support capability on ISS. EVA shared an SORR Exception with ISS to resolve an issue on the current design and removal technique of the Airlock common berthing mechanism thermal cover, which was recently found to be unacceptable for removal utilizing current planning. Both of these actions will be closed out prior to FRR.
EMU Program Review
On May 16 and May 17, 2001, the EVA Project Office conducted the second quarterly EMU Program Review at Hamilton Sundstrand in Windsor Locks, CT. This meeting was chaired by acting EVA Project Office Manager, Mr. Allen Flynt and co-chaired by Mr. Edward Francis, President of Hamilton Sundstrand Space Systems International. The review was comprehensive in that items covered included safety and quality discussions, hardware performance issues, and budget status. Specific items addressed at the review included a summary of the recently completed joint NASA/USA quality audit, a status of open failures, a discussion on failure reduction, issues surrounding procurement and refurbishment of primary pressure regulators, and a status on development projects. The overall theme received from this review was that the EMU program is ready to support near term mission objectives and that work is continuing favorably on process improvements and procedural controls.
EVA TIM
The first of two weeks of an EVA TIM was conducted at JSC the week of May 14, 2001, with participation from our Russian colleagues from Energia and Zvezda. The main topics discussed were the safety tether enhancement agreement, Russian EVA contamination hazards, open safety issues, potential hardware modifications to the Russian segment to increase safety, Orlan capability in the joint airlock, Orlan SAFER data exchange, and discussions on a potential EVA to remove and replace the ACU on the SSRMS. It was a very productive session that will continue the week of May 21, 2001, with a bilateral MECB and more EVA topics.
ACU Replacement
The SSRMS experienced an anomaly during testing on May 17, 2001, that resulted in the joint brakes failing in the “open” position. Although no definitive root cause has been identified, a number of indicators point to the Arm Computer Unit (ACU). Testing continues in an attempt to identify the cause of the anomaly, but in the meantime the EVA Project Office has been asked to evaluate adding a task to the stage 6A EVA to remove and replace the ACU. The stage 6A EVA currently consists of moving the docking cone to the Service Module nadir hatch in preparation for the launch of the Docking Compartment on August 25, 2001. Yuri Usachev and James Voss will perform this EVA in Orlan suits using the SM transfer compartment as an airlock. Procedures for the ACU change out are being jointly written with our Russian partners, and two NBL runs have been scheduled for evaluation of the procedures. A final decision on the EVA is expected from the Mission Management Team prior to the 7A FRR.
G. Allen Flynt
Acting Manager
