Atlantis astronauts Garrett Reisman and Stephen Bowen switched their spacesuits to internal power at 7:54 a.m., marking the start of the 144th spacewalk performed in the assembly and maintenance of the International Space Station. A total of 893 hours and 33 minutes of spacewalking time already had been accumulated since the first two building blocks of the station were linked in late 1998 during STS-88, a mission commanded by now-Kennedy Space Center Director Robert Cabana.
"Nice sunny day out here," Reisman said as he exited the hatch of the U.S. Quest airlock.
The joined shuttle-station complex was flying 220 miles over the eastern coast of South America at the time.
The astronauts breezed through spacewalk preparations and are running about 20 minutes ahead of schedule.
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