Spacewalkers Might Get Early Start

Discovery astronauts Stephen Bowen and Al Drew might be heading outside the International Space Station early today as preps for the excursion are running 45 minutes ahead of schedule.

Bowen and Drew are slated to start the spacewalk at 11:18 a.m. But at the current pace, the astronauts could be exiting the U.S. Quest airlock between 10:30 a.m. and 10:45 a.m.

The spacewalk will be the 154th to be performed in the assembly and maintenance of the station, the first two building blocks were linked in low Earth orbit in 1998. Spacewalkers have spent 961 hours and 5 minutes working outside the outpost -- the equivalent of about 40 days.