September 9, 2019 - Making Spacewalks SAFER
Making Spacewalks SAFER Seen here against a backdrop of clouds some 260 km (161 mi) miles below him, astronaut Mark Lee floats, completely untethered, away from the safety of the space shuttle Discovery. The STS-64 mission, launched 25 years ago this week, saw Lee testing the new Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue (SAFER) system. SAFER was designed to be used in the event that a crew member inadvertently becomes untethered while conducting an extravehicular activity. The small, self-contained propulsive backpack, which is still in use today during ISS spacewalks, provides enough free-flying mobility for spacewalkers to return to the ISS in an emergency if they cannot be retrieved by any other means. The STS-64 crew also deployed and later retrieved the SPARTAN-201 astronomy satellite.
Image credit: NASA
Weekly Calendar
September 9 - 15, 2019
Holidays - Sky Events - Space History
Monday 9
1789: William Bond born
1892: E. E. Barnard discovers Amalthea
1975: Viking 2 launched
1982: Conestoga 1 launched
1994: STS-64 Discovery launched
2006: STS-115 Atlantis launched
Tuesday 10
Neptune at opposition
1857: James Keeler born
1967: Surveyor 5 lands on Moon
1978: Venera 11 launched
2011: GRAIL spacecraft launched
Wednesday 11
1877: James Jeans born
1985: International Cometary Explorer satellite probes Comet Giacobini-Zinner (first comet flyby)
1997: Mars Global Surveyor arrives at Mars
Thursday 12
1959: Luna 2 launched
1966: Gemini XI launched
1970: Luna 16 launched
1991: STS-48 Discovery launched
1992: STS-47 Endeavour launched
1993: STS-51 Discovery launched
2017: Soyuz MS-06 launched carrying ISS Expedition 53/54 crew
Friday 13
Moon at apogee
Neptune 4° north of Moon
1977: Second glide test of Space Shuttle Enterprise
1978: Venera 12 launched
Saturday 14
Full Moon 12:33 AM ET
1966: Gemini XI, docked with Agena booster rocket, reaches 850-mile-high orbit
Sunday 15
1965: “Lost in Space” premieres
1968: Zond 5 launched, first circumlunar spaceflight with living creatures (tortoises)
2016: Tiangong-2 space station launched
2017: Cassini mission ends with planned entry into Saturn’s atmosphere