spacetoday.net: ISS crew completes final spacewalk

Posted: Sat, Sep 4, 2004, 2:11 PM ET (1811 GMT)
ISS Expedition 9 EVA 4 (NASA)

The two crewmembers on the International Space Station performed the final spacewalk of their stay on the station on Friday. Gennady Padalka and Mike Fincke spent five hours and 21 minutes outside the station starting at 12:43 pm EDT (1643 GMT) Friday, performing a variety of maintenance tasks on the exterior of the station. That work included replacing a pump control panel for the cooling system on the Zarya module as well as tether guides on several handrails. The spacewalkers also installed three communications antennas on the Zvezda module that will be used when the European ATV cargo spacecraft begins missions to the station next year. There were no significant problems reported during the EVA, including no orientation problems like the one experiences during the previous EVA last month. The EVA was the fourth and final one for the Expedition Nine crew, who is scheduled to return to Earth next month.