Austrlian-born NASA astronaut Andrew Thomas sporting a Sydney 2000 Olympic Torch
Austrlian-born NASA astronaut Andrew Thomas sporting a Sydney 2000 Olympic Torch |
Houston - Oct. 18, 2000
Those impatient to see the International Space Station program pick up the pace will have a lot to keep them occupied over the next six months. With six scheduled shuttle missions to the ISS and the first crew due to fly up there at the end of October, the Station will be a busy place. One of the many astronauts who will be involved in assembly of the ISS is Mir veteran Dr. Andrew Thomas, who recently found time to talk about his training program and involvement with the new space station.
Thomas is to be a Mission Specialist on board STS-102, which will be the Eighth ISS Assembly Flight. Due to be launched on 15 February 2001, this mission will follow 'hot on the heels' of STS-97 in December and STS-98 in January and have three important tasks to perform:
'Moving Vans' for the ISS
The 'Leonardo' MPLM, built by the Italian Space Agency and named after Renaissance man extraordinaire Leonardo da Vinci, is the first of three pressurised reusable modules that, as NASA puts it, will serve as 'moving vans' for the ISS.
These modules will carry laboratory racks filled with equipment, experiments and supplies to and from the ISS aboard the Shuttle, and will be berthed to the station after docking. Racks of equipment can then be unloaded, while simultaneously loading up the module with old racks and equipment to take back to Earth. The module is then placed in the Shuttle's cargo bay for the journey home. In due course, it is planned that these modules will carry their own freezers for transporting experiment samples and food.
Thomas, from the flight deck of the Shuttle, will lift the MPLM out of the payload using the Shuttle's robotic arm and mate it to the side of the ISS. This will not be a simple task, given the size and mass of the module, which weighs 20,000 pounds on Earth. Although the MPLM will be 'weightless' in space, manipulating its bulk will require dexterity.
Science in Space
The US Laboratory module 'Destiny' will be the centerpiece for performing an extensive array of scientific research projects in the near zero gravity of space, covering areas such as Life Sciences, Earth Science and Space Product Development. For example, the ISS' orbital track, which covers more than 75% of the Earth's surface, allows data on global trends to be gathered. Talking about the ways countries could participate in the ISS program, Australian-born Thomas says that there are "tangible benefits" to be gained from involvement in space station scientific research. "A country such as Australia could send up remote sensing payloads on the ISS which would allow the study of such things as ecology, geography, weather patterns, oceanography and the health of coral reefs. It would not be such a huge investment to make and the information gathered would be invaluable."
All About EVA
Andrew Thomas will perform one extra-vehicular activity or EVA - known to most of us as a space walk - during his next mission to the ISS, together with fellow Mission Specialist Paul Richards. The pair will install the following three components on the side of the ISS, as well as hooking up associated electrical connections:
Training for this intricate and dangerous work has been relentless. "The training in the hydrolab is demanding, as we are wearing a heavy suit and carrying backpacks with oxygen." Thomas is not joking. These suits weigh 220 pounds and are worn over a liquid cooling and ventilation garment designed to take excess heat away from the body. Weights are placed in special envelopes in the suit to create neutral buoyancy and simulate the conditions in space. Once in their suits, astronauts are lowered into the water by cranes and are assisted during their training sessions by a team of scuba divers. A voice communication system allows the astronaut to communicate with a variety of personnel during training, such as the flight control team at Mission Control and the other members of the crew who aren't performing the EVA.
Astronaut training for EVAs involving ISS assembly take place either in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) pool in the Johnson Space Center, Houston, or in the equivalent facility in Russia's Star City. The NBL pool for example is 202 feet long, 102 feet wide and 40 feet deep and contains mock-ups of the ISS modules which the astronauts can use to gain experience in working in a weightless environment. Rules of thumb are that "slow and deliberate motion" provides greater stability than "quicker, jerky motions" and "body positioning is 90% of the task". That's where the long hours of training come in - to make these moves seem like 'second nature'.
The typical EVA takes five or six hours, with intense concentration required to complete the task at hand. "Yes, concentration will be the key," agrees Thomas. "You need to keep re-focusing." I told him that surely after learning Russian and training as a cosmonaut in preparation for his four and half months on board space station Mir in 1998, this training should present no greater challenge to him? "Yes, but that was essentially an intellectual challenge. The challenge of this mission will be [primarily] a physical one. I'm probably working harder now than I did in the lead-up to my time on Mir."
Coping with Long-Duration Space Missions
What lessons does Thomas feel have been learnt from Phase 1 of the ISS Program (Shuttle-Mir) that can be applied to Phase 2 and beyond? "To survive a long-duration stay on a space station, you need to be very self-reliant. It's not for everyone." Thomas has described himself in the past as a person who doesn't have "a great dependency, a huge dependency, on many people around me." He found drawing a relaxing way of making time pass quickly. "It takes you out of yourself. You need to find these kind of activities which don't just seem a part of your daily schedule." 'Ham' or amateur radio was also an enjoyable pastime and he spoke to his parents using this method of communication, as well as the occasional celebrity such as space buff Tom Hanks from his New York apartment. Ham radio enthusiasts Thomas contacted while on Mir still have enduring memories of their conversations, however brief. Ham radio will be available on the ISS with the first amateur radio station having been carried to the Station on-board Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-106), for use by future ISS crews.
Humour was another way Thomas found helped him cope with the stresses of life on board a space station. "When I first arrived, I found a videotape made by [former MASH actor] Alan Alda at NASA's request, in which he made all these jokes about knowing me since his days as my 'camp counsellor', and reminding me of my 'bed wetting problem' - it really made me laugh and helped me to settle in." Another was his personal copy of the Monty Python CD 'A Complete Waste of Time' - which Thomas wryly notes he thought might have been "appropriate" before the flight - although he concedes that their humour might not be to everyone's taste. In an interview prior to Mir, Thomas said, "It's going to be interesting to try and explain some of that to the Russians!"
Looking to the Future
What does he think of the long-term goal of manned space flight to Mars? "I can't imagine what it would be like to be on a different planet where everything is alien - a different sunrise, length of day". Thomas believes it is a worthwhile goal for mankind to pursue, as it will have a "profound significance on human intellect and philosophy." He also sees great potential in using the Moon as a "platform to learn about sustaining life on another planet." Would he be keen on a stint on the Moon to follow on from his Mir experience? His answer is immediate - understandable in a man who has followed the space program with keen interest since a boy. "If I could go to the Moon, I would do so in an instant!"
The frenzy of work will continue for Andrew Thomas as the forthcoming shuttle missions head off to fit out the ISS and the first crew moves in. One recent 'diversion' from Thomas' workload was to participate in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Torch Relay in his hometown of Adelaide, an event that he found "amazing". "The atmosphere was just electric!" At the time, Thomas also commented that his run was "out of this world." Well he should know.
Jennifer Laing is a freelance writer from Melbourne, Australia
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