Atlantis Astronauts Set For Second Station Spacewalk

A trio of batteries powering the International Space Station for the past decade will be swapped out today during the second of three spacewalks planned during shuttle Atlantis’ last visit to the outpost.

This time around, excursion will be made by Atlantis mission specialists Stephen Bowen and Michael Good.

It will be the 145th spacewalk conducted in the assembly and maintenance of the International Space Station since the first two building blocks were linked in low Earth orbit in 1998. During that time, spacewalkers have tallied 900 hours and 58 minutes working in the deadly vacuum in low Earth orbit.

Pretty amazing.

Here’s a look at the day in space:

2:50 a.m.: Station and shuttle crews wake.

3:30 a.m.: Spacewalk No. 2 preps resume.

6:15: Station robot arm snatches spare parts pallet from outpost mobile rail cart.

7:15 a.m.: Spacewalk No. 2 begins.

8:20 a.m.: Battery replacement begins.

12:35 p.m.: Old batteries stowed.

2:15 p.m.: Spacewalk No. 2 ends.

5:50 p.m.: Station crew sleeps.

6:20 p.m.: Shuttle crew sleeps.