Roanoke Times Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc. DATE: MONDAY, April 8, 1991 TAG: 9104080155 SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO SOURCE: Associated Press DATELINE: CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA. LENGTH: Medium
"It's free, it's free, I can see it move, it's free!" shouted a jubilant Jerry Ross as the antenna swung out from a giant scientific observatory.
"Far out, good work," said Jay Apt, his fellow space walker.
It was the first time in more than five years that any Americans had taken a space walk. Ross and Sherwood Spring made that venture from the shuttle Atlantis on Dec. 1, 1985.
The Gamma Ray Observatory was set adrift at 6:37 p.m. EDT, 4 1/2 hours late, from Atlantis. The time of release was not critical to the mission, as is the case when a planetary probe is involved.
The observatory will record the high-energy radiations coming from some of the most violent processes in the universe for the next two years and perhaps longer. Gamma rays do not penetrate the atmosphere and cannot be detected on Earth.
Flight directors decided to take advantage of Ross and Apt's unexpected venture into the cargo bay and had them do some experiments that had been scheduled for a space walk today.
Their time in open space was about 3 1/2 hours. They did not take their space suits off immediately after closing the cargo bay hatch, instead standing by inside an airlock to go outside again should anything go wrong with the observatory's release.
The space walkers plan to complete their tests in the cargo bay today.
The astronauts, attached to the shuttle by a tether, practiced moving along a hand rail mounted to the left side of the cargo bay. Ross did somersaults while holding on to the rail and exercises that resembled pushups. He chuckled and laughed while doing his tricks and appeared to have a good time.
They also did small tests to measure how much effort it took, including one in which Ross lifted Apt up and down several times. The platform he was standing on recorded the force applied.
The tests were planned to help space station designers. The station, if it is approved by Congress, will be assembled in space and require considerable hands-on efforts by astronauts in space suits.
The shuttle was 280 miles above the East Indies when the antenna repair was made.
The repair had been estimated to last more than an hour. Instead, the astronauts had been in open space for only 17 minutes when Ross worked the antenna loose.
The antenna, at the end of a 16 1/2-foot boom, had refused to swing outward from the position in which it had been stowed for the ride into space.
by CNB