False Alarm in Zvezda, Astronauts Complete First STS-131 Spacewalk

(NASA) – At 1:24 a.m. EDT, a smoke alarm sounded aboard the International Space Station’s Zvezda service module. Expedition 23 Commander Oleg Kotov quickly assessed that it was a false alarm that occurred while he was cleaning air filters in the module. The Expedition 23 and STS-131 crews are continuing their joint operations aboard the International Space Station.

STS-131 Mission Specialists Rick Mastracchio and Clayton Anderson wrapped up the first of three planned spacewalks at 7:58 a.m. EDT Friday. They configured an old Ammonia Tank Assembly (ATA) for removal and prepared a new ATA for installation. On the center-most portion of the station’s backbone, they replaced a Rate Gyro Assembly, part of the station’s navigation system. The spacewalk lasted six hours, 27 minutes.

STS-131 Mission Specialist Rick Mastracchio participates in the mission's first spacewalk outside the International Space Station. Image Credit: NASA

The crews continue to unload the Leonardo Multi Purpose Logistics Module and transfer 17,000 pounds of science racks and other supplies into the station, a job that will take several days.

Anderson and Expedition 23 Flight Engineer Soichi Noguchi opened the hatch to the “moving van” at 7:58 a.m. Thursday. The module was relocated from Discovery’s payload bay to a port on the Harmony node at 12:24 a.m.

The Italian-built module’s more than 17,000 pounds of cargo includes four experiment racks along with the final private crew quarters. This is the final roundtrip to the station for the 21-foot-long, 15-foot-diameter Leonardo. Once back on Earth, the module will be reconfigured with increased shielding on the outside for the STS-133 mission in September when it will be left on the station as a permanent module.

STS-131 is the 33rd shuttle mission to the station.