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Spacewalkers install new coolant reservior on station
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: September 3, 2009


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Spacewalkers John "Danny" Olivas and Christer Fuglesang successfully muscled a 1,700-pound ammonia coolant tank into place in the International Space Station's solar power truss Thursday to accomplish one of the primary objectives of the Discovery crew's mission.

With Fuglesang on the end of the space station's robot arm and Olivas anchored to a foot restraint on the truss, the astronauts carefully guided the big tank into position and began bolting it down shortly after 8 p.m. EDT, about two hours after the spacewalk began.

The astronauts had no problems handling the massive tank, the largest component ever manually moved about by space station assembly crews, and after four bolts were driven home to lock it in place, the spacewalkers began connecting ammonia lines, nitrogen pressurization lines and electrical umbilicals to complete the installation.

The new tank was carried into orbit on a platform at the rear of the shuttle Discovery's cargo bay. Fuglesang and Olivas began the spacewalk by unbolting the ammonia tank assembly, or ATA, at 7:06 p.m., just under an hour into the excursion.

A few minutes later, after Fuglesang took a moment to get a feel for handling the massive tank, arm operator Kevin Ford began slowly moving him from the cargo bay up to the P1 truss, a trip that took about a half hour to complete.

"So far, it's behaving very nicely," Fuglesang commented as the station arm began moving.

"That's good news," Ford replied.

After completing the fluid and electrical line connections, the astronauts will focus on transferring a depleted ammonia tank, removed during a spacewalk Tuesday and temporarily mounted on the station's robot arm, back down to the shuttle Discovery's cargo bay. It will be mounted on the cargo carrier for return to Earth.

Today's spacewalk began nearly an hour behind schedule because of time lost opening Olivas' helmet to re-snap a chin strap on his communications cap. Olivas and Fuglesang switched their spacesuits to battery power at 6:12 p.m. EDT to officially kick off the planned six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk.

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VIDEO: OLD TANK MOVED TO SHUTTLE FOR RECYCLING PLAY
VIDEO: NEW TANK HOOKED UP TO STATION UMBILICALS PLAY
VIDEO: CHRISTER FUGLESANG CARRIES NEW AMMONIA TANK PLAY
VIDEO: PREPS IN SHUTTLE BAY TO UNPACK NEW AMMONIA TANK PLAY
VIDEO: DANNY OLIVAS FLOATS OUT OF AIRLOCK TO START EVA PLAY
VIDEO: THURSDAY MORNING FLIGHT DIRECTOR INTERVIEW PLAY
VIDEO: STEP-BY-STEP SUMMARY OF SPACEWALK NO. 2 PLAY

VIDEO: HIGH DEFINITION DAY 6: PREPPING FOR NEXT EVA PLAY
VIDEO: HIGH DEFINITION DAY 6: MOVING FROZEN SCIENCE PLAY
VIDEO: HIGH DEFINITION DAY 6: EMPTYING OUT LEONARDO PLAY

VIDEO: HIGH DEFINITION DAY 5: SPACEWALKERS CELEBRATE PLAY
VIDEO: HIGH DEFINITION DAY 5: OLIVAS AND STOTT ON EVA NO. 1 PLAY
VIDEO: HIGH DEFINITION DAY 5: COLBERT TREADMILL UNPACKED PLAY
VIDEO: HIGH DEFINITION DAY 5: SPACEWALKERS GET SUITED UP PLAY

VIDEO: HIGH DEFINITION DAY 4: LEONARDO MODULE OPENED PLAY
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VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY 6 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
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VIDEO: WEDNESDAY MORNING FLIGHT DIRECTOR INTERVIEW PLAY

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VIDEO: POST-EVA MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: SPACEWALKERS PUT THIRD EXPERIMENT IN SHUTTLE PLAY
VIDEO: BRIEFCASE-LIKE PACKAGE RETRIEVED FROM STATION PLAY
VIDEO: EUROPEAN PAYLOAD MOVED FROM STATION TO SHUTTLE PLAY
VIDEO: SPACEWALKERS FREE COOLANT TANK FROM TRUSS PLAY
VIDEO: DANNY OLIVAS DISCONNECTS OLD AMMONIA TANK PLAY
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS EMERGE FROM AIRLOCK TO START EVA PLAY
VIDEO: OVERVIEW OF FLIGHT DAY 5 ACTIVITIES PLAY
VIDEO: STEP-BY-STEP SUMMARY OF SPACEWALK NO. 1 PLAY
VIDEO: TUESDAY MORNING FLIGHT DIRECTOR INTERVIEW PLAY

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VIDEO: NARRATED REVIEW OF PAYLOADS' PREPARATIONS PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: THE "COLBERT" TREADMILL PLAY | HI-DEF

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VIDEO: WEATHER SCRUBS FIRST COUNTDOWN PLAY | HI-DEF
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VIDEO: PAYLOADS DELIVERED TO LAUNCH PAD PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: LEONARDO PUT INTO TRANSPORTER PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: STATION'S NEW AMMONIA TANK PLAY | HI-DEF
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VIDEO: CREW EQUIPMENT INTERFACE TEST PLAY | HI-DEF
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