spacetoday.net: Spacewalkers remove faulty coolant pump

Posted: Thu, Aug 12, 2010, 9:17 AM ET (1317 GMT)
ISS EVA on 2010 August 11 (NASA)

Two spacewalking astronauts successfully removed a faulty coolant pump on the International Space Station on Wednesday in their second attempt to remove the device. Doug Wheelock and Tracy Caldwell Dyson spent seven hours and 26 minutes outside the station on Wednesday's EVA, where there were able to finally remove a pump after an attempt to do so on an EVA Saturday failed. In the previous attempt, a stuck coolant line leaked ammonia; this time, Wheelock used brute force to remove the line without any significant amount of ammonia leaking. The astronauts then removed the pump and placed it in a storage location on the station. The two are scheduled to perform a third spacewalk no earlier than Monday to install a replacement pump. Mission controllers said a fourth EVA may be needed after that to wrap up the installation of the pump.