NEWS Christer Fuglesang – honorary doctor at Umeå University and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut – is currently performing his second spaceflight on NASA’s space shuttle Discovery. The 13-day STS-128 mission to service the International Space Station (ISS) began on 29 August with a successful launch.
Christer Fuglesang was named an honorary doctorate recipient at Umeå University’s Faculty of Science and Technology in 1999.
Fuglesang’s space mission - named 'Alissé',- includes operations to be conducted both inside and outside the orbital complex. As a qualified Mission Specialist with a specialisation in Extravehicular Activities (EVAs), he will take part in the second and third of the mission’s three spacewalks, scheduled for Thursday 3 September and Saturday 5 September, together with NASA astronaut John Olivas.
The main objective of these two EVAs will be to install more than 20 metres of vital cabling outside the ISS to prepare for the arrival of the ESA-provided Tranquility Node 3 module in 2010. In parallel, the astronauts will also remove and replace a depleted Ammonia Tank Assembly (ATA) used as part of the ISS active thermal control system. At 800 kg, this will be the heaviest object ever manipulated in space by a single astronaut.
Photo: Samuel Bengtson
Source: ESA
Through the Swedish National Space Board’s new website, you can follow Christer Fuglesang's space mission through live and recorded interviews. www.rymdkanalen.se/live
Editor: David Meyers