Posted: Tue, Sep 12, 2006, 8:06 PM ET (0006 GMT)
Two shuttle astronauts successfully completed a spacewalk outside the International Space Station on Tuesday, helping stall a new truss segment on the station. Astronauts Joe Tanner and Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper spent nearly six and a half hours outside the ISS Tuesday, starting at 5:17 am EDT (0917 GMT). The two quickly made it through their list of tasks, attaching power and data cables to a the new P3/P4 truss segment and removing bolts. Near the end of the spacewalk, as the astronauts were performing some additional tasks originally planned for the mission's second EVA, a bolt, washer, and spring that was part of a launch lock being removed from a portion of the truss fell off; NASA officials believe the components harmlessly floated away rather than getting caught inside the truss structure, where they could cause damage. The EVA was the first of three planned for the STS-115 mission, with the second, featuring astronauts Dan Burbank and Steve MacLean, is scheduled for tomorrow.
