spacetoday.net: Plans for ISS spacewalk move ahead

Posted: Wed, Feb 25, 2004, 2:23 PM ET (1923 GMT)
ISS illustration (NASA)

NASA officials said Tuesday that they were going ahead with plans to conduct an EVA outside the International Space Station on Thursday despite recently resurfaced concerns about the safety of such a venture. Michael Foale and Alexander Kaleri will spend five and a half hours outside the station late Thursday replacing experiments mounted on the exterior of the station as well as perform an inspection of the station's Zvezda module. The Washington Post had reported on Monday that NASA officials were initially opposed to the spacewalk since, unlike previous EVAs, there would be no one remaining inside the station to monitor the facility as well as observe the EVA. In a press conference Tuesday afternoon NASA clarified that they had satisfied their initial objections to the EVA through months of preparations leading up to the spacewalk. Some ISS systems, including whole segments of the station, will be put into a safe mode during the spacewalk to minimize the possibility of a serious problem arising while the crew is outside.