Space walk cut short after astronaut helmet lights come loose
Astronauts Alvin Drew and Stephen Bowen ended their second spacewalk 16 minutes early Wednesday after Drew's helmet lights came loose and could not be reattached. The six-hour 14-minute spacewalk ended at 4:56 p.m. EST (GMT-5) when the astronauts began repressurizing the International Space Station's Quest airlock module.
Despite the slightly early termination, Bowen and Drew already had accomplished all the planned objectives of the spacewalk and were working on additional "get ahead" items when Drew's helmet lights detached. Bowen attempted to reattach the unit, but he was not successful. Drew then made his way back to the airlock, followed a few minutes later by Bowen.Working separately throughout most of the excursion, Bowen and Drew vented residual ammonia from a coolant pump scheduled for return to Earth this summer; moved an equipment platform from the Columbus lab module to the shuttle Discovery's cargo bay; installed a light on the station's solar power truss; mounted a new camera on a robot arm extension; and installed protective covers over three camera lenses.
Video: Discovery's rendezvous pitch maneuver
The astronauts also repositioned a camera sunshade that had slipped out of position, removed no-longer-needed insulation and tightened up a loose fitting that is part of a coolant system repair station. Most of the spacewalk tasks were unfinished items left over from earlier spacewalks that NASA is trying to wrap up before the shuttle fleet is retired later this year.
This was the 155th spacewalk devoted to station assembly and maintenance since construction began in 1998, the fourth so far this year, the second for Drew and the seventh for Bowen. Total space station EVA time now stands at 973 hours and 53 minutes. Bowen's total -- 47 hours and 18 minutes -- moves him up to sixth on the list of most experienced spacewalkers.