Live in Orbit: Frayed Glove Cleared for Duty

Update, 7:50 p.m.: Nicole Stott's spacesuit just showed a spike in carbon dioxide levels, but managers attribute the rise to a faulty sensor. Her CO2 levels had been reading at zero before the spike, and Stott is feeling fine.

During a routine check of spacesuit gloves, spacewalker Danny Olivas reported what appeared to be a frayed stitch on the forefinger of his right hand.

For a moment, it looked as if today's spacewalk was in danger of being cut short less than halfway through.

Olivas said it looked as if the glove's white fabric was overlaying the gray material covering his palm and fingertips.

But after a review of photos taken before Discovery's mission, managers said the condition did not expose the protective layer beneath the stitches, and appeared to be an acceptable defect.

The spacewalk was cleared to proceed.

Olivas and Nicole Stott have already completed the most important task, removing a large box holding coolant tanks from a truss segment on the station's left side.

Now they'll move to the European Columbus lab, where they'll retrieve two sets of science experiments that will return home on Discovery.

The spacewalk began at 5:49 p.m. EDT and was running ahead of schedule.