Crews Busy with Robotics and Hardware Relocation

(NASA) – The International Space Station and shuttle Endeavour crews continue with robotics and hardware relocation activities today. They also will prepare for the third and final spacewalk of the mission.

Mission Specialists Nicholas Patrick and Robert Behnken together with Expedition 22 Commander Jeff Williams and Flight Engineer Soichi Noguchi maneuvered the Pressurized Mating Adapter-3 from its location on the Harmony module to the open port on the end of Tranquility at 9:28 p.m. EST Monday.

Pressurized Mating Adapter-3 is relocated from the Harmony module to the open port on the end of the Tranquility node. Image credit: NASA TV

This move will provide an additional docking port for visiting spacecraft as well as provide additional debris shielding for Tranquility.

Pilot Terry Virts and Mission Specialist Kathryn Hire will focus on interior outfitting of the cupola, now in its permanent location. Mission Specialist Stephen Robinson will remove launch brackets used on Tranquility’s Low Temperature Loop (LTL) Pump Package Assembly (PPA) and Common Cabin Air Assembly (CCAA). Commander George Zamka will monitor the robotics activities and support TV and camera set up for the relocation activities.

At the end of the crew day, crew members will gather to review the procedures for the next spacewalk. Behnken and Patrick will spend the night in the Quest airlock as part of the “campout” protocol for that extravehicular activity.