2 NASA astronauts to take spacewalk next week
Washington, May 8: Two NASA astronauts are set to go out for a spacewalk on May 16 to swap out thermal control gear that circulates ammonia to keep the International Space Station systems cool.
The excursion will be conducted by veteran spacewalkers Ricky Arnold and Drew Feustel, NASA said in a blog post on Monday.
The two astronauts will conduct a second spacewalk on June 14, it added.
Space Station officials will preview the upcoming spacewalks live on NASA TV on Tuesday.
On May 20, just four days after the first spacewalk, Orbital ATK is planning to launch its resupply flight on a four day trip to the orbital laboratory.
For the cargo mission, Orbital ATK will launch its Cygnus spacecraft on an Antares rocket from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, NASA said.
Cygnus will resupply the Expedition 55 crew with new science experiments, crew supplies, station hardware and gear that will be installed on the June 14 spacewalk.
NASA also announced on Monday that it will host a media teleconference on May 10, to discuss select science investigations and technology demonstrations launching on the next Orbital ATK commercial resupply flight to space station.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
17 killed as jeep plunges into gorge in Nepal
Kathmandu (PTI): At least 17 people were killed Thursday when a jeep skidded off a hilly road and plunged about 700 metres into a gorge in Nepal's Rolpa district, police said.
The accident occurred in the Jaljala area of Thawang rural municipality when the vehicle slipped on a muddy stretch amid rain and fell down the hillside, they said.
The private jeep was hired by locals travelling to attend the Baisakh Purnima festival on Friday at Jaljala, according to police inspector Sunil Thapa Nepali, information officer at the District Police Office, Rolpa.
Rescue operations are hampered by heavy rain in the area, police said, adding that the exact number of passengers in the vehicle at the time of the accident is not yet known.
