Aug. 3, 2006

Grey Hautaluoma
Headquarters, Washington 
202-358-0688 

James Hartsfield
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111

STATUS REPORT: SS06-036

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION STATUS REPORT: SS06-036

Space station crewmen Jeff Williams and Thomas Reiter worked quickly 
through scheduled spacewalk tasks Thursday, then completed three 
get-ahead jobs, or extra tasks, and were ready for more. Mission 
Control assigned two more jobs, which the astronauts also completed. 

Williams and Reiter wrapped up their productive 5-hour, 54-minute 
excursion and began repressurizing the Quest airlock at 3:58 p.m. 
EDT. The astronauts left the airlock in U.S. spacesuits at 9:04 a.m. 
EDT. Station Commander Pavel Vinogradov helped them with spacewalk 
preparations and getting into their suits. It was the first time in 
more than three years a third crewmember had been available for those 
tasks on the orbiting laboratory.

Williams, designated lead spacewalker, or EV1, wore the U.S. spacesuit 
with red stripes. Reiter, EV2, wore the all-white suit. 

Astronaut Steve Bowen acted as spacewalk intravehicular officer and 
coached the astronauts from the International Space Station Flight 
Control Room in Houston's Mission Control Center. Williams and Reiter 
quickly got ahead of their timeline. First, they installed the 
Floating Potential Measurement Unit. The device measures the 
electrical potential of the station so procedures can be devised to 
minimize arcing hazards, or the jumping of current from a conductor 
to a ground, as the station grows. 

Their second job was to install two containers for MISSE, the 
Materials on International Space Station Experiment. The 
suitcase-like containers are left open to evaluate the long-term 
effects of space exposure on a variety of materials. The idea is to 
identify optimal materials for use in future spacecraft. MISSE 3 went 
on one of the high-pressure tanks around the crew lock, while MISSE 4 
was installed on Quest's outboard end. 

The two astronauts then went on to separate jobs. Williams installed a 
controller for a thermal radiator rotary joint on the S1 truss, while 
Reiter replaced a computer on the truss.

Williams then began installing a starboard jumper and spool 
positioning device (SPD) on the S1 truss. Reiter inspected a radiator 
beam valve module SPD site where one device was already installed and 
installed an additional one. He then moved on to install a SPD on a 
port cooling line jumper. The jumpers are designed to improve the 
flow of ammonia through the radiators once that coolant is installed. 

Williams began setup for the final major scheduled task, a test of an 
infrared camera designed to detect damage in a shuttle's reinforced 
carbon carbon (RCC) thermal protection. The camera highlights damage 
by showing variations in temperature between clean and damaged RCC 
test sections. Reiter operated the experiment while Williams went on 
to one of the additional tasks. 

The first task was installation of a light on the truss railway 
handcart to help future spacewalkers. Williams then removed a 
malfunctioning GPS antenna. After Reiter finished the infrared camera 
experiment, he installed a vacuum system valve on the U.S. laboratory 
Destiny for future scientific experiments.

Mission control came up with additional tasks. Williams moved two 
articulating portable foot restraints to prepare for STS-115 
spacewalks and then photographed a scratch on the airlock hatch. 
Reiter went to PMA1, a pressurized "corridor," to retrieve and 
inspect a ball stack, which holds hardware during spacewalks. The 
crew also had additional time throughout the spacewalk to photograph 
the worksites after their tasks were complete and then snap pictures 
of each other at the end. With no more quick tasks to add, the 
spacewalkers re-entered the airlock and closed the hatch early.

The next station status report will be issued on Friday, Aug. 11, or 
earlier if events warrant. For more about the crew's activities and 
station sighting opportunities, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station 

	
-end-