NASA will provide two simultaneous satellite feeds of live news events Wednesday evening: a spacewalk by the International Space Station crew and the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft’s arrival at Saturn.
Coverage of the spacewalk by Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Mike Fincke begins June 30 at 4:30 p.m. EDT.
The spacewalk itself begins about 5:40 p.m. EDT. Padalka and Fincke will replace an exterior circuit breaker and restore power to one of four Station gyroscopes that help orient the complex.
The excursion is expected to last as long as six hours. Station managers will meet Tuesday morning to finalize plans.
NASA TV will cover the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft throughout the day and into the evening on Wednesday. Cassini will fire its engines for 96 minutes to put itself into Saturn’s orbit.
The mission is composed of two elements: the Cassini orbiter that will circle Saturn and its moons for four years, and the Huygens probe that will dive into the murky atmosphere of Titan and land on its surface. The sophisticated instruments onboard these spacecraft will provide scientists with vital data to help understand this mysterious, vast region.
