Astronauts Step Out On First Spacewalk Of Mission
CAPE CANAVERAL (CBS4) – Two astronauts from the space shuttle Discovery are taking a spacewalk at the International Space Station Monday afternoon.
One of the astronauts on the space walk is Stephen Bowen, who was assigned to the job just last month. The original lead spacewalker, Timothy Kopra, was injured in a bicycle accident and pulled off the flight. Kopra will help direct the spacewalk from Mission Control. He's still on crutches.
But problems with the robotic work station caused a half-hour long interruption. Two hours into the spacewalk the robotic station shut down. The astronauts were forced to rush to another computer station.
Bowen became stuck and held on to a big, broken pump that needed to be moved. He clung on and asked Mission Control how much longer. The robot arm was finally placed back into operation about 30 minutes after the problem arose.
The other spacewalker is Alvin Drew who becomes the world's 200th spacewalker on his first spacewalk.
They will spend all afternoon moving a broken ammonia pump to a better location, installing an extension cable and doing other chores including a lighthearted experiment, in which they'll open a small metal canister and expose the interior to the vacuum of space. The bottle will be displayed in Japan.
This is the last flight for Discovery, after 39 missions spread over 26 years. The shuttle will be retired when it returns to Earth in just over a week and sent to the Smithsonian Institution.
Two launches remain -- by Endeavour in April and Atlantis at the end of June.
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