Accessibility links

Breaking News
News

Astronauts Complete 7-Hour Spacewalk


The U.S. space agency NASA says two astronauts have completed a 7-hour spacewalk outside the International Space Station.

American Danny Olivas and Christer Fuglesang of Sweden unreeled 18 meters of cable for a new room scheduled to be installed on the station early next year.

The pair did run into trouble late in the spacewalk, failing to connect one end of the cable. Ground controllers told the astronauts to wrap the cable in insulation and pack it away for a future mission.

The astronauts also installed a cargo platform and two global positioning antennas, and repaired the gyroscope used to steer the space station.

It was the third and final spacewalk on the current mission of the Space Shuttle Discovery, which is scheduled to leave the space station on Tuesday.

The new room to be added is called Tranquility, and is scheduled to be installed during a mission in February 2010.

Shuttle Discovery is slated to end its 13-day mission Thursday with a landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.


Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.

XS
SM
MD
LG