spacetoday.net: Astronauts perform ISS spacewalk

Posted: Wed, Jul 10, 2013, 6:38 AM ET (1038 GMT)
ISS EVA on 2013 July 9 (NASA)

American and Italian astronauts spent more than six hours outside the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday, completing a series of maintenance tasks that include preparing for the arrival of a new Russian module. NASA's Chris Cassidy and ESA's Luca Parmitano completed a six-hour, seven-minute spacewalk at 2:09 pm EDT (1809 GMT). The two replaced a failed communications unit and a camera and retrieved two experiments mounted on the station's exterior. The spacewalkers also router power cables in preparation for the planned replacement of the station's Pirs module with a new Russian multipurpose lab module later this year. The two astronauts are scheduled to perform another spacewalk in a week to perform additional maintenance work on the station.