Rookie spacewalkers chalk up successful outing

Last Updated Oct 7, 2014 3:15 PM EDT

Working outside the International Space Station, NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman and European Space Agency crewmate Alexander Gerst successfully moved a failed ammonia pump module to an external stowage platform Tuesday, completing a task originally planned for a repair spacewalk last December.

They also replaced a burned-out television camera light, used during spacecraft arrivals and departures, and installed a backup payload power system on the mobile transporter used to move the station's robot arm and attached equipment from one worksite to another.

The spacewalk, the 182nd since station construction began in 1998, got underway at 8:30 a.m. EDT (GMT-4) and ended six hours and 13 minutes later when Gerst and Wiseman returned to the Quest airlock and began repressurization procedures at 2:43 p.m. It was the fifth of seven spacewalks planned this year by station astronauts and the first for Wiseman and Gerst.

"Alex, it looks like we've almost got a full moon out here," Wiseman marvled as he floated out of the airlock. "It's beautiful."

A few minutes later, Gerst said simply "this is awesome."

"Yep, this is amazing," Wiseman agreed.

The major goal of U.S. EVA-27 was to move a failed ammonia coolant pump from the mobile transporter to an insulated bay on External Stowage Platform No. 2 near the airlock. The pump failed last December and was replaced during two spacewalks later that month. But the repair crew did not have time to move the failed unit back to ESP-2.

As the space station moved into orbital darkess, astronaut Reid Wiseman, center (with red stripes around legs) heads back to the Quest airlock. Fellow spacewalker Alexander Gerst is visible to the lower left.

Read the original here:
Rookie spacewalkers chalk up successful outing