spacetoday.net: ISS astronauts conduct EVA

Posted: Wed, Apr 9, 2003, 8:58 AM ET (1258 GMT)
ISS EVA in April 2003 (NASA)

Two American astronauts completed a spacewalk outside the International Space Station on Tuesday, the last EVA likely to take place at the station for the foreseeable future. Astronauts Ken Bowersox and Don Pettit spent six hours and 26 minutes outside ISS starting at 8:40 am EDT (1240 GMT) Tuesday. The primary purpose of the spacewalk was to reconfigure power cables for two of four gyroscopes mounted in the Z1 truss segment that provide orientation control for the station. One of the four gyros failed last year and a replacement was to be launched to the station on the STS-114 mission, which has been indefinitely delayed; the station needs at least two operational gyros to maintain proper orientation. Rerouting the power cables prevents both from being disabled in the unlikely event of a power failure. The astronauts also performed a number of "get-ahead" tasks for future ISS assembly, including reconfiguring electrical connectors and deploying a light stanchion on the handrail cart on the S1 truss that the astronauts could not deploy during a previous spacewalk in January. NASA decided to conduct the spacewalk now to take advantage of the last weeks of a three-person crew on the station. With two-person crews scheduled to stay on the station until the shuttle returns to service, EVAs will not be possible since at least one crewmember must remain in the station during spacewalks, which require two people.