CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Nov. 28 (UPI) -- Two spacewalking astronauts wrapped up a Thanksgiving Day outing, successfully outfitting a new International Space Station truss and repositioning a rail cart for use on future spacewalks.
Michael Lopez-Alegria and John Herrington floated outside the space station for six hours on Thursday, the second of three spacewalks planned during shuttle Endeavour's week-long stay at the outpost.
Although it was a working holiday in orbit, shuttle commander Jim Wetherbee took a moment to relay a Thanksgiving message from space.
"From our vantage point high above the Earth, we can see we are very fortunate to be living at a time when society has advanced their technology further in one generation than in all of human history," Wetherbee said.
"We are grateful for our family and friends," he added, "for without them this technology would be meaningless. From the crews of Endeavour and Alpha, we wish all of you closer to the center of our home planet a happy Thanksgiving."
Lopez-Alegria and Herrington installed equipment on the new truss segment that will allow ammonia coolant to flow to radiators when the system is activated next year.
The astronauts also moved a 600-pound rail cart from one station truss segment to another. Herrington, mounted on the end of the station's robot arm, clasped the cart while arm operator Peggy Whitson slowly swung him 180-degrees from one side of the station to the other.
"Gorgeous sights out here!" Herrington said. "It's gorgeous, just gorgeous. I'd love to take a picture, but..."
"Your hands are full, right?" Whitson quipped.
"My hands are full," Herrington responded.
Repositioning the rail car cleared the tracks for the mobile base of the station's arm to be relocated for the third spacewalk on Saturday.
