Live In Orbit: Stage Set For Spacewalk At ISS

Discovery's astronauts just maneuvered a 15.5-ton girder within 4.5 feet of the starboard end of the International Space Station's central truss, setting the stage for a spacewalking construction job that will cap a decade-long assembly sequence.

Deftly manipulating the station's 57-foot construction crane, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata put the so-called S6 truss segment in the pre-install position, a move made in advance of the first of three spacewalks planned during Discovery's stay at the outpost.

The $300 million girder is the 11th and final piece of the station's integrated central truss, which serves to support massive American solar wings that generate power to run outpost systems. The S6 truss segment is equipped with a fourth and final set of U.S. solar wings.

Mission specialists Steve Swanson and Ricky Arnold are in the U.S. Quest airlock at the station, preparing to head out on a 6.5-hour spacewalk aimed latching the S6 segment to the end of the truss and rigging up electrical, data and coolant lines.

The excursion is scheduled to begin at 1:13 p.m.

Lead spacewalker Swanson will be wearing a spacesuit with red stripes on its legs and he'll be answering to the radio call sign "EV-1." Arnold will be wearing an all-white spacesuit and will answer to the call sign "EV-2."

Mission specialist Joe Acaba, a former Melbourne High School science teacher, will direct the spacewalk from inside the joined shuttle-station complex.

You can watch the action unfold right here in The Flame Trench. Simply click the NASA TV box on the righthand side of this page to launch our NASA TV viewer and live coverage. Be sure to refresh this page for periodic updates.

The spacewalk will be the 121st performed in the assembly and maintainence of he station since the first two building blocks were linked in low Earth orbit in December 1998.