Live In Orbit: Astronauts Suit Up For Spacewalk

Two shuttle astronauts are suiting up in the International Space Station's U.S. Quest airlock, preparing to venture outside on an excursion aimed in part at getting the outpost ready for the arrival later this year of a massive Japanese cargo carrier.

Spacewalkers Steve Swanson and Joe Acaba also will prep six power system batteries for removal and replacement on a shuttle mission now set for launch in June -- a flight to finish the Japanese section of the outpost.

The joined crews of Discovery and the station also plan to test a replacement distillation assembly for the station's new U.S. urine processing system, which is designed to turn wastewater into potable drinking water.

The original, flown up on a mission last November, was brought back to the ground on the same flight because it did not operate properly. NASA and its international partners would like to have the system working before the size of resident crews is doubled to six in May.

The work will come a day after the astronauts unfurled a fourth and final set of massive American solar wings, completing the U.S. power system at the station and doubling the amount of electricity available for science experiments on the outpost.

"Good morning Discovery! ISS now looks like artist renderings that we've been seeing for years," NASA's Mission Control Center said in a daily "execute" plan beamed up earlier this morning. "A day to celebrate!"

Click here to see and save your copy of the Flight Day 7 Execute Plan.

The timing of all major mission milestones can be viewed in the latest revision -- Rev I -- of the STS-119 NASA TV Schedule

Discovery pilot Tony Antonelli and Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata -- now a station flight engineer and the first Japanese to start a long duration mission on the outpost -- are in the airlock helping Swanson and Acaba suit up.

The right-hand glove of one of Swanson's spacesuit sprang a leak during the early stages of suit up, but the glove was removed and re-seated and now is working properly.

The astronauts are on schedule to send Swanson and Acaba out on their scheduled 6.5-hour spacewalk at 12:43 p.m.

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ABOUT THE IMAGE: Click to enlarge at save the NASA screen grab that shows Tony Antonelli helping Steve Swanson get suited up in the U.S. Quest airlock.