Cosmonauts to Perform 27th Russian Space Station Spacewalk

Two Russian cosmonauts will venture outside the International Space Station on Jan. 21 to complete installation of a new high-speed data transmission system, remove an old plasma pulse experiment, install a camera for the new Rassvet docking module and retrieve a materials exposure package.

Expedition 26 Flight Engineers Dmitry Kondratyev and Oleg Skripochka are scheduled to float outside the Pirs airlock at 9:20 a.m. EST to begin the six-hour excursion. Both spacewalkers will wear Russian Orlan-MK spacesuits.

Kondratyev will be designated as Extravehicular 1 (EV1), with a red stripe on his suit, and Skripochka will be EV2, with a blue stripe on his suit. Skripochka also will wear a NASA-provided wireless television camera system and helmet lights to provide live point-of-view video to Mission Control-Moscow, which will provide ground support for the spacewalk. Mission Control-Houston will monitor the spacewalk as well.

Fermi Detects 'Shocking' Surprise from Supernova's Little Cousin

Astronomers using NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope have detected gamma-rays from a nova for the first time, a finding that stunned observers and theorists alike. The discovery overturns the notion that novae explosions lack the power to emit such high-energy radiation.

A nova is a sudden, short-lived brightening of an otherwise inconspicuous star. The outburst occurs when a white dwarf in a binary system erupts in an enormous thermonuclear explosion.

"In human terms, this was an immensely powerful eruption, equivalent to about 1,000 times the energy emitted by the sun every year," said Elizabeth Hays, a Fermi deputy project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "But compared to other cosmic events Fermi sees, it was quite modest. We're amazed that Fermi detected it so strongly."

Gamma rays are the most energetic form of light, and Fermi's Large Area Telescope (LAT) detected the nova for 15 days. Scientists believe the emission arose as a million-mile-per-hour shock wave raced from the site of the explosion.

Final STS-132 Spacewalk Complete

Mission Specialists Michael Good and Garrett Reisman completed the final STS-132 spacewalk at 1:13 p.m. EDT. The spacewalk lasted 6 hours, 46 minutes.

The spacewalkers’ first task was the installation of an ammonia jumper on the port 4 and 5 truss. They finished the last of the battery replacement work, swapping the remaining two batteries and installing a battery that was left in a temporary stow position from the last spacewalk.

The final task was the transfer of a Power and Data Grapple Fixture (PDGF) from the orbiter’s payload bay to the station for storage. The PDGF will be installed to the Zarya module’s exterior on a spacewalk later this summer.

Pilot Tony Antonelli and Mission Specialist Steve Bowen assisted from inside the complex throughout the spacewalk. Mission Specialist Piers Sellers and Expedition 23 Flight Engineer Tracy Caldwell Dyson provided robotics support. STS-132 Commander Ken Ham monitored the spacewalk activities and assisted with orbiter activities and transfer work.