Spacewalkers completed their first important task today in about 80 minutes, moving an empty nitrogen tank from a station platform to Endeavour's payload bay for return to Earth. Lead spacewalker Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper and Steve Bowen bolted the tank onto the shuttle's lightweight carrier using a cordless drill.
Next, they'll remove a spare part brought up on the carrier and place it on the same platform where they removed the nitrogen tank.
The following series of images shows Stefanyshyn-Piper as she rides the station's robotic arm with the nitrogen tank assembly in hand. Click on any of the images to enlarge them.
The spacewalkers will attach the tank to a lightweight carrier that Endeavour carried in its cargo bay along with the much heavier Leonardo moving van. Crews inside the station today have started unloading more than 14,000 pounds of supplies and equipment. Click "Read more..." to see more images. 


Sunlight shining into Endeavour's payload bad shows the spare part that Stefanyshyn-Piper and Bowen will move next. The Flex Hose Rotary Coupler on top of the lightweight carrier is used to pump liquid amonia to station radiators. Bowen can be seen to the left of Stefanyshyn-Piper.
Earlier, Bowen took time to replace a Velcro cover over a station window, shown here.



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