Free Republic

Astrophotographers often produce breathtaking images of distant galaxies, planets, and moons from Earth. But Dr Sebastain Voltmer captured something very different and yet equally incredible, last week. He photographed the International Space Station (ISS) while astronauts Matthias Maurer and Raja Chari were outside performing a spacewalk. This may be the first ground-based image that has captured two astronauts out on a spacewalk at the same time.

NASA astronauts Raja Chari and Kayla Barron step out of the International Space Station to conduct a spacewalk.

NASA abruptly called off a spacewalk shortly before it was set to begin Tuesday morning after receiving a notification that debris could threaten the astronauts outside the International Space Station. The notice came just two weeks after Russia fired a missile that destroyed a dead satellite polluting low Earth orbit with more than 1,500 pieces of debris that forced the astronauts and cosmonauts to evacuate the space station and board their spacecraft in case they had to flee. NASA astronauts Thomas Marshburn and Kayla Barron had been scheduled to step outside the orbiting laboratory at about 7:10 a.m. Eastern time...

That sad trombone you hear is the sound of NASA’s attempt at a history-making spacewalk falling apart. After conducting the first spacewalk this week, astronaut Anne McClain noted that the large suit she was wearing did not allow her to move effectively. “McClain learned during her first spacewalk that a medium-size hard upper torso – essentially the shirt of the spacesuit – fits her best,” according to a statement from NASA. Because only one medium-size torso would be ready by the planned Friday spacewalk, NASA astronaut Christina Koch will use the suit.

Minutes after he stepped into space, Leonov realised his suit had inflated like a balloon, preventing him from getting back inside. Later on, the cosmonauts narrowly avoided being obliterated in a huge fireball when oxygen levels soared inside the craft. And on the way back to Earth, the crew was exposed to enormous G-forces, landing hundreds of kilometres off target in a remote corner of Siberia populated by wolves and bears. Afterwards, the Soviet authorities revealed nothing about the problems. For years, few people knew the truth.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA has ordered up a series of urgent spacewalks to fix a broken cooling line at the International Space Station. Station managers decided Tuesday to send two American astronauts out as soon as possible to replace a pump with a bad valve. It's a major job that will require three spacewalks — Saturday, Monday and next Wednesday on Christmas Day. "The next week will be busy with space walks so not much tweeting from here," NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio tweeted from space soon after the decision was announced.

My eyes are closed as I listen to Chris counting down the atmospheric pressure inside the airlock – it’s close to zero now. But I’m not tired – quite the reverse! I feel fully charged, as if electricity and not blood were running through my veins. I just want to make sure I experience and remember everything. I’m mentally preparing myself to open the door because I will be the first to exit the Station this time round. Maybe it’s just as well that it’s night time: at least there won’t be anything to distract me. When I read 0.5...

NASA aborted a planned six-hour spacewalk by two astronauts outside the International Space Station today (July 16) when one of the spacewalkers reported "a lot of water" inside his spacesuit helmet, a potentially scary situation. European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano reported that helmet started filling with water, making it difficult for him to continue the spacewalk outside of the International Space Station. The spacewalk ended after one hour and 32 minutes. It was supposed to last six hours and 15 minutes. The crew was in no immediate danger during the spacewalk, NASA officials said. Parmitano With Helmet Removed Astronaut...

These stunning images capture the final stage of the construction of the International Space Station. But as they marked the beginning of a new era in space exploration, the spacewalk undertaken by Gregory Chamitoff and Mike Fincke also represented an end - of Nasa's 30-year shuttle programme. All future spacewalks - including one during the final shuttle voyage this summer - will be performed by full-time space station residents.

The spacewalk to start repairing the Hubble began about 8:00 CT this morning. They will be outside about 55 minutes. They are currently 23 minutes into the spacewalk.

HOUSTON, March 22 (Reuters) - NASA called off tests of the International Space Station's urine recycler on Sunday after problems developed and revamped plans for Monday's spacewalk to fix an improperly installed cargo platform attachment. Monday's spacewalk is the last of three planned during shuttle Discovery's mission at the space station, which is nearly completed after more than a decade of construction. The primary goal of Discovery's flight was to deliver and install the station's last set of solar panel wings, which was accomplished on Thursday. The shuttle blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center on March 15 for a...

(video) We’re not conspiracy theory wackos. We absolutely believe American astronauts walked on the moon. Twelve of them on six different missions. They loped around, smacked golf balls, drove that little dune buggy, all that stuff. But take a look at this video. It really makes you wonder if the entire Chinese space walk was phony. We hate the American media. They’ve proven they’re untrustworthy. But what’s this world coming to when you can’t trust the Chinese media? Watch the video.

The briefcase-sized tool bag drifted away from astronaut Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper on Tuesday as she cleaned and lubed a gummed-up joint on a wing of solar panels on the space station.

Excerpt - Chinese taikonaut Zhai Zhigang slipped out of the orbital module of Shenzhou-7 Saturday afternoon, starting China's first spacewalk or extravehicular activity (EVA) in the outer space. "Shenzhou-7 is now outside the spacecraft. I feel well. I am here greeting the Chinese people and people of the whole world," the taikonaut reported to the ground control in Beijing, where Chinese President Hu Jintao watched the proceedings with country's top space scientists. Donning a 4-million-U.S.dollar homemade Feitian space suit, Zhai waved to the camera mounted on the service module after pulling himself out of the capsule in a head-out-first position...

(WASHINGTON, DC) Astronaut Scott Parazynski did more than perform emergency surgery on a torn solar panel on the International Space Station today. At the end of his spacewalk, almost as an afterthought, he reached out with a 90-foot robotic arm and boom extension, and deftly snagged a strand of twine dangling from a mysterious bundle of space debris. “Yee haw,” was all that earthbound controllers could hear Parazynsky say into his space helmet at that moment. However, Col. Douglas H. Wheelock, giving visual cues to Parazynsky during what officials have termed the most dangerous spacewalk in history, shouted something else:...

U.S. astronaut Sunita Williams has now spent more time spacewalking than any other woman, setting the record on Sunday as she and a crew mate upgraded the international space station's cooling system. Williams broke the previous female spacewalking record of more than 21 hours when she and Michael Lopez-Alegria completed the second of what could be a precedent-setting three spacewalks in nine days. The new record is 22 hours and 27 minutes. During the spacewalk, which lasted more than seven hours, small amounts of toxic ammonia leaked from a fluid line. The liquid ammonia, which freezes into flakes when it...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Two U.S. astronauts aboard the International Space Station successfully completed a space walk on Wednesday, doing some chores for the orbital outpost, according to NASA TV. Astronauts Sunita Williams (L) and Michael Lopez-Algeria are shown during a space walk on the International Space Station, Jan. 31, 2007. (NASA TV) This is the first of unprecedented three space walks in nine days by Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and Flight Engineer Sunita Williams. Lopez-Alegria, the lead space walker wearing the suit with red stripes, and Williams, in the all-white suit, stepped out of Quest airlock at 10:14 a.m....

This is a small version. The Big version is here

HOUSTON - The space shuttle Discovery crew was awakened by the Beach Boys hit "Good Vibrations" on Monday to get them ready for a day of work trying to shake loose a jammed solar energy array. Two spacewalking astronauts were scheduled to work on the stuck solar wing, with instructions from their counterparts inside the international space station and in Mission Control. It was to be the fourth spacewalk of this now 13-day mission. NASA added it to the schedule on Saturday after several attempts to fully fold the solar array were unsuccessful. U.S. astronaut Robert Curbeam was poised to...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA approved conducting a fourth, unplanned spacewalk if astronauts were unable to get a stubborn solar array to fold up into a box properly Saturday. The extra spacewalk, if carried out on Monday, would delay space shuttle Discovery's landing at the Kennedy Space Center by a day to Friday, and push back other activities such as undocking and a late inspection of the shuttle's heat shield. NASA managers made the decision as U.S. astronauts Robert Curbeam and Sunita "Suni" Williams were midway into a six-hour spacewalk. It was Curbeam's third spacewalk in a week and Williams'...