Special Report: Launch of Atlantis
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Astronaut Joe Tanner works to make the
P3/P4 truss operational during his extravehicular excursion from the
International Space Station in this view from NASA TV, Sept. 12,
2006.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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WASHINGTON, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Two astronauts finished on
Wednesday morning the second spacewalk of a shuttle mission critical to
completion of the half-finished orbital outpost.
According to the report from the NASA mission control
center, mission specialist Daniel Burbank and Steve Maclean floated out of the
International Space Station at 5:05 a.m. EDT. They spent more than seven hours
working on a truss unit that was attached to the station on Tuesday and will
double its electricity supply when activated.
The new truss structure, which contains a set of
solar arrays, was the first addition to the space station in nearly four years
after the 2003 Columbia disaster forced NASA to ground the shuttle program and
thus halt construction of the 100 billion-dollar complex.
The unit includes a large rotating joint -- the Solar
Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ) -- which will allow the arrays to track the sun.
Burbank and MacLean, a Canadian astronaut, spent most of their spacewalk
releasing locks and restraints placed on the joint to protect it while Atlantis
carried it to the station after launching on Saturday from Florida.
About 7:10 a.m. EDT, MacLean reported that one of the
four bolts on the cover to SARJ launch lock 8 was missing. The bolt had been
there when he removed the cover to access the lock. MacLean reported he did not
see the bolt in the SARJ mechanism. The cover is secure with three of the four
bolts in place.
In the
meantime, mission specialist Joseph Tanner is serving as spacewalk coordinator. Mission specialist Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper is
assisting Tanner and operating Canadarm2. Tanner and Piper conducted the first spacewalk and will perform the
third Friday. Enditem
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This photo provided by NASA shows American astronaut Daniel C. Burbank and astronaut Steven G. MacLean, representing the Canadian Space Agency , participating in the second of three scheduled space walks for the Space Shuttle Atlantis and International Space Station crew members as construction resumes on the space station.
The two astronauts are working at part of the
integrated truss system. MacLean is flanked by two breadbox-sized equipment bags.
(Xinhua/AFP Photo)
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This photo provided by NASA shows American astronaut Daniel C. Burbank (R) and astronaut Steven G. MacLean, representing the Canadian Space Agency , participating in the second of three scheduled space walks for the Space Shuttle Atlantis and International Space Station crew members as construction resumes on the space station.
The two astronauts are working at part of the
integrated truss system. MacLean is flanked by two breadbox-sized equipment bags.
(Xinhua/AFP Photo)
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BEIJING, Sept. 12 (Xinhuanet) -- Two
American astronauts went spacewalking on Tuesday to hook up a solar power unit
that will provide additional power to the International Space Station.
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The International Space Station is seen
in a camera mounted inside the Space Shuttle Atlantis' specialized mating
adapter as the two spacecraft approach prior to docking in this view from
NASA TV Sept. 11, 2006. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Group
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WASHINGTON, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- Space shuttle Atlantis successfully docked with the International Space Station at 6:48 a.m. EDT Monday, according to NASA TV. [1] [2] [3] [4]
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