Spacewalkers take extra safety precautions for toxic ammonia
The astronauts are rearranging space station plumbing and tackling other odd jobs. (NASA via AP)CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. โ Spacewalking astronauts had to take extra safety precautions Saturday after possibly getting toxic ammonia on their suits from the International Space Station's external cooling system. But so much ammonia spewed out of the first hose that Mission Control worried some of the frozen white flakes might have gotten on their suits. As a result, Mission Control said it was going to โbe conservative" and require inspections. NASA did not want any ammonia getting inside the space station and contaminating the cabin atmosphere.
Spacewalkers complete 4 years of power upgrades for station
In this image taken from NASA video, NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins, left, and Victor Glover work outside the International Space Station on Monday, Feb. 1, 2021. The pair ventured out on their second spacewalk in under a week Monday to complete a four-year effort to modernize the International Space Station's power grid. Although the spacewalk got started late, Hopkins and Glover hustled through the battery work in under an hour. AdThe space station is now equipped with 24 lithium-ion batteries to store power collected by the solar panels. In all, 14 spacewalks were needed to complete the battery work.
Cable trouble dogs spacewalkers in European lab upgrades
In this image taken from NASA video, NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins works outside the International Space Stations European lab on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021. Hopkins and Victor Glover went spacewalking Wednesday to install a high-speed data link outside the International Space Stations European lab and connect cables for an experiment platform awaiting activation for almost a year. (NASA via AP)CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. โ Spacewalking astronauts encountered cable trouble Wednesday while attempting to make improvements to the International Space Stationโs European lab. Elsewhere on the lab, Glover could not hook up all the power and data cables on a science research platform that's been awaiting activation for almost a year. Hopkins and Glover will perform a second spacewalk on Monday to complete battery upgrades to the stationโs solar power grid.
What Bill OโBrien said during his press conference about the DeAndre Hopkins trade, the NFL Draft and operating virtually
OโBrien had previously addressed fans in a conversation with season ticket holders, but his pre-draft Zoom press conference was the first opportunity to hear extended thoughts on various topics, including, of course, the DeAndre Hopkins trade. OโBrien answered questions for nearly an hour, and here are the 5 most important things OโBrien discussed. Youโre finding a trade partner that will be able to pay DeAndre Hopkins, that was a big part of it. Once we found that team that could afford DeAndre Hopkins in the future, now we begin to negotiate what the value of the trade was. I feel good about those guys learning, seeing because you can still teach and show film, get up on the board and draw something.
City health officials survey families in โcancer clusterโ neighborhoods
Why the Survey MattersโWe know that the contaminants in the groundwater plume are carcinogenic and we know that this community has a cancer clusterโthat means elevated cancer casesโand the TCEQ actually requested the cancer cluster analysis,โ Dr. Lauren Hopkins, the Houston Health Departmentโs Chief Environmental Science Officer, said. Hopkins said they know that there is a carcinogenic chemical plume contaminating underground water underneath approximately 110 homes in Fifth Ward and Kashmere Gardens. A Community in ActionThe study sparked a fiery response from Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee, as well as Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis, the Houston Health Department and community groups. IMPACT Greater Houston and the Houston Health Department informed residents about the community meetings on January 13 and February 10, when the Houston Health Department plans to release the results of Saturdayโs survey. Jackson-Lee is also working with the state and federal officials and planning a large-scale stakeholder meeting on January 21 in the Fifth Ward at 7 p.m.