Spacewalkers do repairs more quickly than expected — and stay dry
Source: NBC News
Spacewalkers do repairs more quickly than expected — and stay dry
Alan Boyle, Science Editor NBC News
25 minutes ago
Two NASA spacewalkers started fixing the International Space Station's cooling system more quickly than expected on Saturday, with no sign of the helmet-flooding problem that led NASA to outfit astronauts with snorkels for the first time.
Astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins were so far ahead of schedule that they completed one of the big tasks that was originally scheduled for a later spacewalk: stowing away a coolant pump module with a faulty valve to make room for its replacement. And they did it all in just five and a half hours, an hour less than originally planned.
"Really nice work, guys," fellow NASA astronaut Doug Wheelock told the duo from Mission Control. Wheelock was involved in a similar pump replacement operation in 2010.
Last week's valve malfunction cut the station's cooling capability in half, forcing mission managers to shut down non-critical systems on the $100 billion-plus orbital outpost. Ground controllers couldn't get the valve back in service by remote control, which led to the plan for three spacewalks running through Christmas Day.
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Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/science/snorkel-equipped-spacewalkers-start-critical-repair-job-space-station-2D11787843