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| Expedition 32 Flight Engineers Sunita Williams (foreground) and Akihiko Hoshide work with spacesuits aboard the International Space Station [PHOTO: NASA Television] |
Washington: In the wake of an unsuccessful attempt to install a replacement power-switching unit on the truss of the International Space Station, two crew members will venture outside for a second time in six days to complete the work. The spacewalk is scheduled to begin about 7:15 a.m EDT on Wednesday (5th September).
Expedition 32 flight engineers Sunita Williams of NASA and Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency again will don U.S. spacesuits and exit the Quest airlock to complete the installation of a spare Main Bus Switching Unit (MBSU). The MBSU is a boxy, 236-pound component that relays power from the station's solar arrays to its systems. An 8- hour, 17-minute spacewalk on Aug. 30 -- the third longest in history -- ended with the spacewalkers unable to finish bolting the switching unit into its housing on the truss.
This spacewalk will be the 165th in support of space station assembly and maintenance, the sixth in Williams' career and the second for Hoshide. Williams will wear the spacesuit bearing red stripes. Hoshide will be clad in the spacesuit with no markings.