Amazing day! Yesterday, I read a Scientific American article about the
tweeting astronaut which sounded really cool. Click click click, I was following his tweets
while he was in space! Too cool! My favorite tweet:
From orbit: My spacewalk was amazing, we had some tough problems, but through them all, the view of our precious planet was beautiful
and
From orbit: This is an awesome experience, the privilege to fly in space and work on the Hubble is beyond my dreams
Phenomenal! I have dreamed about being an astronaut and now I get to virtually interact somehow with one? I do not always take every Internet "thing" for granted, but I'm pretty sure this is a person speaking from space.
I soon discovered that a
Facebook fan page was tracking the progress of the mission, which happens to be the very last mission that will be planned to maintain the Hubble Space Telescope. All morning long, I have been reading up to the minute reports from someone relaying the status to its 4,000 fans. Eventually, I figured out that Nasa was hosting
live streaming video of the mission, too! My excitement about the discovery and my thankfulness for the Internet in general increased with every post.
I navigate to the live video and I see two space hands grasping some equipment. The astronauts pause for a moment to admire a lightning show on Earth from space, but the camera failed to pivot towards anything but the belly of the Hubble. I realized that the astronaut in the helmet could probably move his head around without moving the head-mounted camera around. The astronauts, also known as the two Mikes, were busy for hours trying to remove an old hand rail in order to get at some equipment that needed replacing. I was following this live?? ZOMG
I get bored eventually and go out to the living room to play on the Xbox. I know, I know, but I was in for a treat! To my surprise, the TV was tuned to the cable, which neither myself or the roomie usually watch. It was on ESPN which I hardly knew we had. He must have been watching some game. I flip to see what's on. To my astonishment, the University of Washington's UW2 channel had the same space walk I was just admiring! I had followed the trail of bread crumbs to this moment, it seems. Now, I am witnessing the end of the space walk in my living room in full 50" Plamsa HDTV glory!
This time, it was far more interesting. I couldn't have planned it better, I think! Instead of the boring innards of HST, I was viewing the mirrored outside of the telescope, with the astronaut's camera looking directly at the astronaut and space beyond! My jaw drops. My world has just been blown apart. I feel connected to these people. I am crying by the end of the broadcast.
At one point, the astronaut took an impossibly futuristic tool from his belt. Looked like a laser gun from the year 4020, but it was merely an expensive power screwdriver, made for space. I discovered later that this was a new tool they were using for the first time. After the last mission, the specifications were drawn up and the astronauts were trained to use it before this mission began. When it was used, there were very loud clicking sounds that reverberated through the spacesuit's microphone. It was so exact because the astronaut could specify the exact number of turns expected for each screw he was tightening! I was amazed by the details this astronaut was expected to track. When Mike would ask, an operator either on the ground or in the shuttle, moved him via a robotic arm to the exact location he needed to be. I got there in time to see the doors of the shuttle being bolted closed, which required the astronaut to move up and down along the outside of the HST.
Every now and then, the astronauts would do safety checks. After they worked for some time, or perhaps because they were using their hands, operators would call out a glove check. The astronauts, looking like an austic baby in a full-body diaper suit, would poke a gloved finger against each finger on the opposite side and report back to Mission Control about its status. Each finger was examined and re-examined over for any tears, holes, or numbness. One of the Mikes found a small tear in the (million dollar?) spacesuit glove after some work. MC had them position his hand and zoom in to an extreme close up to verify it. My heart was leaping... perhaps they would have to come back in??? No, it was a small tear and the suit was still intact. *WHEW*
Another safety check that they did was to count the number of wire leads and tools they brought with them as they were about to end the spacewalk. There was a panic over the count as one of the leads seemingly ended up missing. Two groups on the ground were puzzling over the count, retracing video and their stressful memories over and over until they both simultaneously announced the solution - that it was expected. I was impressed with the amazing teamwork everyone did, on the ground and in space.
A gasp escaped my lips as the astronauts drew away from the telescope. They had closed the HST doors and I could see the shuttle right-side up on the screen, but orbiting upside down, making the Earth into an impossible object in the black sky overhead (loosely speaking, of course). The telescope's mirrored doors reflected everything back to the camera and I was overwhelmed with a powerful connectedness. I absolutely felt like I was there.
Towards the end, the astronauts were given some time to relax from their 8 hour workload and say a few things. I was getting choked up watching them. I could see one astronaut near the hatch and tethered to the space shuttle while the other was hovering at an impossible angle from him in space, on the end of the Canadian-made robotic arm attached to the shuttle (could tell by the red maple leaf on it). I could tell the astronauts were thankful, estatic, and awed by their experience. I felt the same.
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