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Spacewalk going well BY WILLIAM HARWOOD STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION Posted: December 14, 2006 One hour and 54 minutes into a planned six-hour spacewalk, astronauts Robert Curbeam and Christer Fuglesang completed their electrical re-wiring work to route electricity from the space station's solar arrays into two of the four main circuits making up the lab's permanent power system. Flight controllers then successfully powered up the two channels, routing electricity through a pair of big main bus switching units and transformers mounted on the statoin's solar array truss. "Discovery, Alpha, with some good news from Houston," astronaut Stephen Robinson radioed from Houston. "We're ready for the good news," an astronaut replied from space. "It's not good news, it's great news," Robinson said. "MBSU 2 and 3 and the associated DDCUs have powered up successfully. You do not have to do an MBSU or DDCU change out today." "Excellent," Curbeam drawled. Flight controllers then turned their attention to activating a large ammonia pump in one of two untried cooling systems to keep the electronics from overheating. The pump has been in space for four years, but other than aliveness tests, it has never been turned on. But cooling is critical and the pump is needed to push ammonia through cold plates to carry heat away from the electrical components and into large radiators for dissipation in space. With flight controllers busy activating the power and cooling systems, Curbeam and Fuglesang are in the process of moving two equipment carts from one side of the station's robot arm transporter to the other in preparation for station assembly work next year.
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VIDEO:
WIDESCREEN VIEW FROM PLAYALINDA BEACH TRACKER 