Posted: Fri, Aug 17, 2001, 11:06 AM ET (1506 GMT)
Two astronauts conducted a six-hour spacewalk outside the International Space Station Thursday, installing equipment and experiments to the exterior of the orbiting facility. Astronauts Pat Forrester and Dan Berry spent six hours and 16 minutes outside the shuttle Discovery on Thursday during the first of two spacewalks scheduled for the STS-105 mission. The two spacewalkers installed an ammonia tank that provides a reserve of coolant for the station, as well as Materials ISS Experiment (MISSE), an experiment pallet that will expose 750 material samples to the space environment for the next 18 months. The two also reported seeing a hole about a millimeter in diameter in one of the station's radiator panels, possibly caused by a micrometeorite or piece of orbital debris. The two will perform a second spacewalk on Saturday to attach heater cables for a truss structure that will be added to the station next year. The shuttle and station crews will spend Friday hauling garbage and equipment into the Leonardo cargo module for return to Earth on the shuttle. Also scheduled for Friday is a change-of-command ceremony where Expedition Two station commander Yuri Usachev formally hands over command of the station to Expedition Three commander Frank Culbertson.
