Just after 2 p.m. EST, telemetry signals confirmed that astronaut Mike Fincke and cosmonaut Yury Lonchakov have successfully installed a European materials experiment outside the International Space Station. The two Expedition 18 crew members began their spacewalk at 12:22 p.m. EST.
Their top priority was to install the Expose-R experiment, a job that gave them trouble when they first tried in December.
The suitcase-size device will expose organic and biological materials to the space environment from its perch on the Russian Zvezda service module.
A problem with electrical cabling inside the service module prevented the spacewalkers from activating the experiment last December, and they had to take it back inside.
After installing and connecting the experiment box, Finke and Lonchakov removed a thermal cover and took photographs of its contents for science investigators to review. Their next major task of the day is a photographic survey of Russian Zvezda service module, which was launched in July 2002.
Russian managers want to see how the module has held up to micrometeorite debris and the harsh environment of space over nearly nine years.
In addition to Expose-R, another materials experiment cassette is also set to be repositioned during the spacewalk.
You can follow the rest of the spacewalk live. To launch a NASA TV viewer, click on the still image on the right side of the page. And refresh this page for updates.
The spacewalk is said to be running about 40 minutes ahead of schedule, meaning it could finish around 5:30 p.m. EST.
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