NASA spacewalker invites public to join a photo trip

World
Europe

NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik on Saturday asked people from Earth-side to share on social media the images taken from the ground, while Bresnik and his fellow astronaut Joe Acaba travel a full orbit around the Earth from the International Space Station.

Starting at 8:25 a.m. EDT (12:25 p.m. GMT) next Monday, Bresnik and Acaba will begin the "photo frenzy" from the 360-degree Earth-facing cupola window. Traveling at about five miles per second (almost 29,000 kilometers per hour), they’d finish one orbit around the Earth about every one and a half hours.

NASA astronaut Joe Acaba photographed Puerto Rico from the cupola of the International Space Station on Oct. 12, 2017. / NASA Photo

The station’s orbit will set off from the UK, moving across central Europe to Oman, a pass near the Maldives, sunset west of Australia and sunrise over the south Pacific Ocean before concluding with a pass over North America from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to Montreal, Canada. Bresnik will update on social media his latest captures via satellite communication.

#1World1Orbit track map, updated on Oct. 21. / NASA Image

With a detailed time schedule released, Bresnik is trying to get more people engaged in sharing photos along. As part of NASA’s Year of Education on Station initiative, which aims at inspiring students and teachers on space exploration, the students located in areas Bresnik pinpointed along the track are especially invited to join him on the journey.

Astronaut Randy Bresnik conducts a spacewalk on October 5. / NASA Photo

Bresnik, also the Expedition 53 Commander, just successfully finished on Friday a marathon six-hour-and-49-minute spacewalk – a third spacewalk they took during the mission – during which Acaba, also a Flight Engineer, and Bresnik finished crucial repairs to the 17 meters’ long robotic arm. They are just in time to take their US supply delivery with that fixed robotic arm on November 13.

NASA's Joe Acaba and Randy Bresnik on Oct. 20 installed a new camera system on the Canadarm2 robotic arm’s latching end effector, an HD camera on the starboard truss of the station and replaced a fuse on the Dextre robotic arm extension. / NASA Photo

It was also the third spacewalk for Acaba in his career, but was already the fifth spacewalk of Bresnik’s. The whole station crew members have accomplished 205 spacewalks conducting assembly and maintenance of the orbiting laboratory. Together they’ve spent 53 days, 6 hours and 25 minutes working outside the station.

(With input from NASA)