Armed with grease guns, astronauts leave station to fix faulty joint
Two U.S. astronauts walked out of the International Space Station on Tuesday to begin maintenance work on a faulty joint on the station’s solar arrays.
Mission specialists Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper and Steve Bowen left the station in their spacesuits at 1:09 ET p.m. armed with putty knives and grease guns, which they will use to scrape away metal grit and lubricate the starboard solar alpha rotary joint.
Astronaut takes China’s first spacewalk
BEIJING, China (CNN) — A Chinese astronaut has completed his country’s first-ever spacewalk as part of an ambitious program that is starting to rival the United States and Russia in its rapid expansion.
Zhai Zhigang waved to an external camera as he emerged from the hatch of the Shenzhou-7 spaceship on Saturday.
He later held a small Chinese flag, waving it in space.
Zhai returned to the interior of his capsule and closed the hatch after less than 20 minutes outside.
Chinese astronauts in final spacewalk countdown
BEIJING (AP) — Astronauts aboard China’s Shenzhou 7 spacecraft were making final preparations for the country’s first-ever spacewalk planned for Saturday afternoon.
Space suits, one Chinese, the other Russian-made, were fully functional, while all three astronauts aboard the capsule were in good health, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
The 20-minute spacewalk is scheduled for Saturday afternoon; the exact timing depends on the readiness of equipment and personnel. The event will be broadcast live on television, he said.
China’s astronauts in orbit, prepare for spacewalk -
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s third manned space mission reached its final orbit early Friday morning, where astronauts preparing for the country’s first spacewalk enjoyed spicy food and the convenience of an onboard toilet.
The Shenzhou VII blasted off from a remote desert site on Thursday on a trip designed to showcase China’s technological mastery and crown the success of the Beijing Olympics.
The launch, part of a space program that could eventually lead to a landing on the moon, was watched by millions of Chinese and the event has dominated state media.