spacetoday.net: Spacewalkers install truss, mission extended for shuttle repairs

Posted: Tue, Jun 12, 2007, 8:06 AM ET (1206 GMT)
STS-117: EVA #1 (NASA)

Two members of the STS-117 crew completed the first spacewalk of their mission on Monday, installing a new truss segment to the ISS, as mission managers decided to extend the mission and add an additional EVA to repair a torn thermal blanket on the shuttle. Astronauts Jim Reilly and Danny Olivas spent six hours and 15 minutes outside the ISS on Monday to hook up the S3/S4 truss segment to the rest of the station. The two hooked up the power, data, and cooling connections on the new truss segment and removed launch restraints so that the segment's radiators and solar panels can be deployed. The radiator was deployed during the EVA while the solar panels will be unfurled on Tuesday. The start of the EVA was delayed by around an hour after the station's gyros became saturated. The spacewalk was the first of three originally scheduled for the mission, but while the two were performing the EVA, NASA shuttle managers decided to add a fourth EVA to allow astronauts to put a torn thermal blanket on the aft section of the shuttle Atlantis back into position. While officials didn't believe the torn blanket was a safety risk to the crew, they were concerned about damage to that section of the orbiter during reentry if left exposed.