spacetoday.net: ISS crew completes spacewalk

Posted: Wed, Jan 26, 2005, 1:56 PM ET (1856 GMT)
ISS illustration (NASA)

The two-man Expedition Ten crew completed a five-hour spacewalk outside the International Space Station, installing equipment and discovering residue around a vent used by the station's balky oxygen generator. Leroy Chiao and Salizhan Sharipov spent five hours and 28 minutes outside the station on the EVA, which started at 2:43 am EST (0743 GMT). The two installed a German robotic experiment, Rovkiss, as well as a Russian experiment package, to the exterior of the station. During their time outside the station, the two noticed some residue, reported to be both white and brown in appearance, built up around vents used by the station's Elektron oxygen generator and other waste disposal systems. The nature of the residue was unknown to station engineers, as well as any role it might play in the problems experienced in recent weeks by the unit. Chiao and Sharipov are scheduled to perform another EVA in about two months, near the end of their stay on the station.