The two major objectives of the spacewalk are fixing a small railway car on the outside of the station that transports equipment and testing their ability to use the 100-foot-long extended shuttle boom for shuttle inspection and repair -- an exercise that has been dubbed "bouncing on the boom." In the morning packet of messages and instructions sent up to the shuttle, mission managers joked that the exercise "Sounds like a new country song."

The first task involves making sure that the power and data cable to the transporter are safe. The transporter has two sets of the cables, to ensure that if one fails the other will still work. But in December, the transporter's cable cutter, a safety device for overcoming snags, cut one of the cables. NASA still does not know why, but managers of the space station wanted to ensure that the other cutter does not sabotage the other cable, since the transporter is essential for completing construction on the station.

An attempt to block the cutter with a bolt on a previous space walk by the space station crew was unsuccessful, but Mr. Fossum was able to install the blocker on this walk. A second step to restoring the transporter will come on Monday, when the astronauts will replace the cut cable.

The astronauts then moved on to the second objective of the spacewalk, which is to test the ability of astronauts to use the 50-foot extension to the shuttle's 50-foot Robot arm as a work platform for shuttle inspection and repair.

That task involves attaching a work platform to the end of the boom and then will take a ride on the platform, mimicking motions that they would make during repairs to the shuttle.

Inside the shuttle, astronauts Lisa Nowak and Stephanie Wilson will operate the robotic arms for the shuttle and the station.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/08/sc...rtner=homepage
Psycho4Bud Reviewed by Psycho4Bud on . Shuttle Astronauts Conduct Space Walk The two major objectives of the spacewalk are fixing a small railway car on the outside of the station that transports equipment and testing their ability to use the 100-foot-long extended shuttle boom for shuttle inspection and repair -- an exercise that has been dubbed "bouncing on the boom." In the morning packet of messages and instructions sent up to the shuttle, mission managers joked that the exercise "Sounds like a new country song." The first task involves making sure that the power Rating: 5