Cooling System Repair One Of Several Assignments

Astronauts Jeff Williams and Thomas Reiter worked so efficiently together on Thursday's spacewalk outside the International Space Station that they were actually done 90-minutes ahead of schedule. Their reward? More work assignments from ground control.

Their original task: make critical repairs to a new cooling system. With that finished early, the two astronauts hung about for a few moments, enjoying the view.

But that ended when NASA controllers hauled out their get-ahead task list. Williams and Reiter ended up installing a floodlight on the cargo rail car, and added a vent valve to the exterior of the science lab.

NASA reports the two also placed an experiment on the orbiting laboratory that will study how various materials react to the extremes of the outer space environment.

Even then, they still finished more than 35-minutes early. Commander Pavel Vinogradov assisted his two crewmates from inside the International Space Station.

It was the 69th spacewalk in the history of the ISS... and more are on the way, now that the station is back up to a three-person complement for the first time since the Columbia tragedy three years ago. Those excursions will likely increase even more in the next few years, as more modules and equipment are brought up to the ISS onboard the space shuttle.

FMI: www.nasa.gov