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American astronauts on the International Space Station aim to activate an important urine processing system today while shuttle visitors take time off and engineers on the ground re-plan a spacewalk set for Monday.
Station skipper Mike Fincke and NASA astronaut Sandra Magnus put the urine processing system through a successful dry run Saturday, a day after a new distillation assembly hauled up on shuttle Discovery was installed.
The original failed to operate properly after the system was delivered late last year. NASA and its international partners want to get the system -- which is designed to convert wastewater and condensate into potable water -- before the size of resident crews is doubled to six in May.
The station crew will activate the system and run urine through it during a test that will begin about 1 p.m. The idea is to produce a sample that can be returned to Earth aboard Discovery for extensive analysis.
If it works properly, the system will significantly reduce the amount of water that must be shipped up to the station. The annual savings: about $62 million a year.
Discovery's astronauts will take much of the day off today while NASA program managers decide whether to make a second spacewalking attempt to set up an external experiment platform.
Spacewalkers Steve Swanson and Joe Acaba, a former Melbourne High School science teacher, could not fully deploy the platform Saturday because one of the astronauts installed a latching pin backwards. The misplace pin blocked full deployment.
The pin placement was on Acaba's to-do list, but it was unclear whether he or Swanson installed it. The deployment of a twin experiment platform and another similar pallet were put off.
Program managers will determine whether the astronauts should make a second attempt to deploy the so-called Unpressurized Cargo Carrier Attachment System platforms on the last of three spacewalks scheduled during Discovery's stay at the station.
The platforms are located on the portside of the station's central truss. Another similar experiment pallet on the starboard side of the truss was supposed to be deployed, too.
Acaba and fellow Discovery mission specialist Ricky Arnold will perform the spacewalk. The excursion is slated to start at 11:43 a.m. Monday.
Here's a look at the shuttle crew's schedule for today:
++6:43 a.m.: Discovery crew wake up.
++10:18 a.m. Crew off-duty period begins.
++6:12 p.m.: Media interviews with CNN, CBS and WOFL-TV of Orlando.
++7:13 p.m.: Spacewalk No. 3 procedures review.
++8:59 p.m.: Crew choice video downlink opportunity.
++9:09 p.m.: Spacewalkers cam out in Quest airlock.
++10:43 p.m.: Discovery crew sleep.
The timing of major milestones for the rest of Discovery's mission are listed in the latest revision -- Rev J -- of the STS-119 NASA TV Schedule
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