

|
---|
Steve Bowen and Alvin Drew embarked on their second spacewalk together at 2112 IST to complete work on a failed ammonia pump, remove installation on the Tranquility module and install spare parts on the Canadian robot Dextre.
The walk was briefly delayed by a minor leak in American Steve Bowen's spacesuit, caused by a faulty O-ring seal in a lithium hydroxide canister that scrubs out carbon dioxide. A new O-ring was installed to replace it.
Bowen was a late addition to the six-member US crew that blasted off aboard the Discovery on February 24, after astronaut Tim Kopra was injured in a bicycle accident. Kopra, who was standing with the help of crutches, was among colleagues at mission control in Houston yesterday, and NASA said he would be "helping out" with the spacewalk from there.
Tuesday was Drew's second spacewalk and marked the seventh for Bowen.
The Discovery shuttle is the first of three US shuttles set to become museum pieces later this year.
Endeavour is to lift off on April 19 followed by Atlantis on June 28, marking the official end of the US space shuttle program after 30 years.
No comments:
Post a Comment