Pair Also Performs Prep Work For Columbus Docking

International Space Station Commander Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Dan Tani completed a seven hour, four minute spacewalk at 11:54 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, Saturday.

The spacewalk exercise moved the external outfitting of the Harmony node to its new position in front of the US laboratory Destiny. All scheduled tasks were performed including a look at the starboard Solar Alpha Rotary Joint. The spacewalker's were even able to do what NASA characterized at "get-ahead" work, and said that the walk was very similar to the November 20th space work.

Whitson, the space station commander, and Tani, a flight engineer, began the task 4:50 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, according to NASA. The two moved a 300-pound (136-kilogram) fluid tray for the cooling system to a permanent location near the Destiny laboratory, according to Bloomberg.

Tani configured tools, and then removed two fluid caps to prepare for connection of that permanent cooling Loop B. Just as in the Nov. 20th spacewalk, much of this outing was devoted to work with a fluid tray.

The 300-pound, 18.5-foot tray was changed from its temporary position on the S0 truss, at the center of the station's main truss, to Destiny, on top of the port avionics tray.

The team used a similar method as the procedures on Nov. 20, bolting down a tray and hooking up fluid line connections.

Whitson later removed a thermal cover of a centerline berthing camera system and eight launch restraints that will help dock and attach the European Space Agency laboratory Columbus during the STS-122 mission of Atlantis next month.

FMI: www.nasa.gov