Monday, November 23, 2009

Atlantis crew completes third, final spacewallk

The last of three spacewalks by Atlantis astronauts outside the International Space Station ended at 2:06 p.m. EST, as the outpost flew over the Pacific Ocean southeast of Hawaii.

Astronauts Randy Bresnik and Bobby Satcher were outside for five hours, 42 minutes.

The misison's spacewalking time totaled 18 hours, 27 minutes.

Bresnik, who's wife gave birth to a girl late Saturday following his first-ever spacewalk, thanked Mission Control for the help handling the situation. That included sending up video and pictures on Sunday.

"I got to see my little girl for the first time yesterday," Bresnik said from inside the Quest airlock, sounding emotional. "Thank you to my wonderful wife for bringing her into the world. That was the most wonderful thing I've seen I left Earth. EV-3 out."

Bresnik contributed 11 hours, 50 minutes on the second and third spacewalks. Satcher contributed 12 hours, 19 minutes on the first and third spacewalks.

Mike Foreman, who partnered with each rookie on the first two spacewalks, totaled 12 hours, 45 minutes.

It was the 230th U.S. spacewalk, and the 136th supporting space station maintenance and construction.

The spacewalk was the 22nd of 2009, one less than the record of 23 in 2002 and 2007.

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