spacetoday.net: ISS spacewalkers fix antenna

Posted: Fri, Feb 23, 2007, 8:31 AM ET (1331 GMT)
ISS EVA on Feb 22 2007 (NASA)

Two members of the International Space Station crew repaired a stuck antenna during a spacewalk outside the station Thursday. Astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria and cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin spent six hours and 18 minutes outside the ISS on an EVA that started just before 5:30 am EST (1030 GMT) Thursday. The purpose of the EVA was to retract an antenna on the Progress M-58 spacecraft docked to the station. The antenna, used by the spacecraft's Kurs docking system, failed to retract automatically when the spacecraft docked to the station in October. The spacewalkers eventually removed the antenna and tied it to the spacecraft's hull so that it will not cause problems when the spacecraft undocks. The two also performed a number of other minor tasks outside the station during the EVA. Tyurin experienced problems with the cooling system on his spacesuit during the EVA that caused his visor to fog up, but he was able to continue working and the problem went away later in the EVA. The spacewalk was the fourth conduced from the ISS in less than a month, and was the tenth in the career of Lopez-Alegria, a US record.