Astronauts Perform Second STS-127 Spacewalk

We wonder if there's a little yellow sign that goes up while it's out of service. No matter, International Space Station Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Frank De Winne finished replacing parts on the U.S. Waste and Hygiene Compartment (WHC) in the Destiny laboratory after the unit's separator pump became flooded on Sunday. Padalka and De Winne replaced the separator pump, control panel and the COT, a container that holds liquid.

They reactivated the system and early indications are it is working well. The crew has been given a "go" to use WHC.

The WHC is one of three toilets available to the combined 13-member crew, which had been using a similar facility in the Russian Zvezda module and the facility in space shuttle Endeavour since Sunday's failure.

Meanwhile, STS-127 lead spacewalker Dave Wolf and Endeavour Mission Specialist Tom Marshburn undertook the mission's second spacewalk beginning at 1127 EDT Monday, when they switched their spacesuits to battery power. The space walk was scheduled for 6.5 hours.

The pair was tasked to retrieve three hardware spares from the Integrated Cargo Carrier - Vertical Light Deployable, or ICC-VLD, and place them in a long-term storage location on the outside of the station's Port 3 truss. On Sunday, robotic arm operators moved the cargo carrier to a location where Wolf and Marshburn can easily access it.

File Photo

First, Wolf and Marshburn retrieved a Ku-Band Space-to-Ground Antenna from the ICC-VLD and place it in the Port 3 External Stowage Platform, ESP-3. Next, they transfered a Pump Module that is part of the station's exterior thermal control system, and a Linear Drive Unit that helps the mobile transporter move along the truss backbone, to ESP-3. Marshburn took a fixed grapple bar and prepositioned it on an ammonia tank assembly in preparation for its replacement on STS-128 in August. Finally, both spacewalkers moved a television camera that was launched on the Japanese Exposed Facility (JEF) to its final location on JEF. The spacewalkers were assisted by Julie Payette and Doug Hurley, who helped move Wolf from the ICC-VLD to the ESP-3 on the space station robotic arm.

FMI: www.nasa.gov