spacetoday.net: Final STS-119 spacewalk completed

Posted: Tue, Mar 24, 2009, 6:53 AM ET (1053 GMT)
STS-119: EVA #3 (NASA)

Two astronauts carried out the third and final spacewalk of the STS-119 shuttle mission on Monday, completing some maintenance work outside the International Space Station but leaving other tasks for future missions. Richard Arnold and Joseph Acaba spend six hours and 27 minutes outside the ISS on Monday on a spacewalk that ended at 7:04 pm EDT (2304 GMT). The two moved a crew equipment cart so it will not interfere with work planned for a future shuttle mission, and also lubricated part of the station's robotic arm. However, the two were unable to fix a cargo carrier that didn't deploy properly during Saturday's spacewalk, and thus controllers decided not to have the astronauts deploy a similar carrier on the opposite side of the station's truss. Also deferred was work to reconfigure an electrical panel for the station's gyroscopes. Tuesday is the last full day the shuttle will be at the station; the orbiter is scheduled to undock Wednesday afternoon and return to Earth on Saturday.