ISS astronauts complete six-hour maintenance spacewalk

Washington, Oct 8: In a six-hour long spacewalk, astronauts Reid Wiseman of

and Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency have successfully relocated a failed cooling pump and conducted other equipment repairs and maintenance work outside the International Space Station (ISS).

Completing the first of three Expedition 41 spacewalks, the first task for Wiseman and Gerst was to relocate a failed cooling pump to External Stowage Platform-2 (ESP-2) just outside the Quest airlock of ISS.

It was temporarily stowed on the station's truss by Expedition 38 spacewalkers Mike Hopkins and Rick Mastracchio Dec 21 last year after they replaced the failed pump with a spare.

When they completed the pump module stowage work, the duo stowed adjustable grapple bars on ESP-2.

Wiseman cleaned up the work area around the pump module while Gerst went on to replace a light on an External Television Camera Group (ETVCG) outside Destiny.

The next task was the installation of a Mobile Transporter Relay Assembly (MTRA).

The MTRA adds the capability to provide "keep-alive" power to the Mobile Servicing System when the Mobile Transporter is moving between worksites.

The Mobile Transporter can move supplies, gear and the Canadarm2 on rails along the Integrated Truss Structure - the station's backbone.

The Mobile Servicing System plays a key role in station maintenance tasks.

A second US spacewalk is set for Oct 15 while the first Russian spacewalk of Expedition 41 is scheduled for Oct 22.

IANS