spacetoday.net: ISS astronauts prepare module for move

Posted: Sat, Nov 10, 2007, 7:48 AM ET (1248 GMT)
ISS EVA on 2007 Nov 9 (NASA)

Two members of the International Space Station crew carried out a spacewalk Friday to prepare for the relocation of the station's newest module next week. ISS Expedition 16 commander Peggy Whitson and flight engineer Yuri Malenchenko spent 6 hours and 55 minutes outside the station on Friday, starting at 4:54 am EST (0954 GMT). The two performed a number of tasks on the exterior of Harmony, the module added to the station during the recent STS-120 shuttle mission, as well as with the PMA-2 docking adapter on the end of the Destiny module. The move clears the way for a pair of moves next week using the station's robot arm: PMA-2 will be moved from Destiny to Harmony on Monday, and then Harmony will be moved from its temporary location on the Unity module to the far end of Destiny on Wednesday. Two additional spacewalks are planned for later this month to complete the work needed to install Harmony at its new, permanent location. That work must be done before the next shuttle mission in early December, which will deliver the Columbus lab module that will dock to Harmony.