spacetoday.net: Third STS-110 spacewalk a success

Posted: Mon, Apr 15, 2002, 9:05 AM ET (1305 GMT)
STS-110 EVA #3 (NASA)

Two astronauts completed the third spacewalk of the STS-110 mission on Sunday, clearing the way for a test of the station's new Mobile Transporter on Monday. Steve Smith and Rex Walheim spent six and a half hours outside the station on Sunday released clamps that secured the Mobile Transporter to the S0 truss. The release will allow controllers to move the transporter for the first time on Monday; they will command it to move about 10 meters along the truss segment at around two centimeters per second. The spacewalkers also rewired several connectors to allow the Canadarm2 to be powered from the truss rather than the Destiny module. The arm will eventually be able to move across the station on the Mobile Transporter, after the installation of a Mobile Base System on the transporter later this year. The astronauts ran out of time before they could complete their final task of the spacewalk, the installation of a 4.2-meter ladder between the truss and the Quest airlock; that ladder will be installed on the fourth spacewalk Tuesday.