NASA Astronauts End Spacewalk Early After 5 Hours (BLOG)

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJDnA745khPcgtuEGIxPIZUVRZf_R2No50dmmewR7o6xythyQpPHI1L8-6IUUsEMAYDz6ruZYvgD4XGK2LFwc0ABHYWxZPobzo2gFVF-seXj7l-HC8HPh6_kGpkvdX8gKfv-QD8IqYRHg/s1600/ap_international_space_station_wy_131220_16x9_992.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJDnA745khPcgtuEGIxPIZUVRZf_R2No50dmmewR7o6xythyQpPHI1L8-6IUUsEMAYDz6ruZYvgD4XGK2LFwc0ABHYWxZPobzo2gFVF-seXj7l-HC8HPh6_kGpkvdX8gKfv-QD8IqYRHg/s320/ap_international_space_station_wy_131220_16x9_992.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">Two American astronauts conducted an urgent repair outside the <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/topics/news/space-station.htm" style="color: #2e538f; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="external">International Space Station</a>Saturday during a spacewalk that lasted five hours and 28 minutes.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">The astronauts ran about an hour and a half ahead of what NASA expected to be their timeline.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">Rich Mastracchio and <span class="pw7ji8k800" id="pw7ji8k800_4" style="border-left-color: transparent; border-right-color: transparent; border-style: solid; border-top-color: transparent; border-width: 1px; color: #009900; cursor: pointer; display: inline !important; float: none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">Mike Hopkins</span>, Expedition 38 Flight Engineers, began working at 7:01 am EST Saturday morning to replace a degraded ammonia pump module associated with one of the station's two cooling loops that keeps internal and external equipment cool, <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/topics/news/nasa.htm" style="color: #2e538f; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">NASA</a> said.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">Mastracchio, the lead spacewalker, conducted six previous spacewalks, and holds the record for the 14th longest total number of spacewalking hours. This was Hopkins' first spacewalk.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">NASA's website offered the public a <span class="pw7ji8k800" id="pw7ji8k800_2" style="border-left-color: transparent; border-right-color: transparent; border-style: solid; border-top-color: transparent; border-width: 1px; color: #009900; cursor: pointer; display: inline !important; float: none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">live video feed</span> showing the astronauts and Mission Control.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">During the repairs, the astronauts communicated with Mission Control Houston about the procedure. The spacewalk ended after five hours, 28 minutes and 11 seconds, shorter than the 6.5-hour expected spacewalk, because Mastracchio complained about chilly temperatures in <span class="pw7ji8k800" id="pw7ji8k800_7" style="border-left-color: transparent; border-right-color: transparent; border-style: solid; border-top-color: transparent; border-width: 1px; color: #009900; cursor: pointer; display: inline !important; float: none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">his</span> space suit.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">After the cooling line broke down on Dec. 11 at the International <span class="pw7ji8k800" id="pw7ji8k800_3" style="border-left-color: transparent; border-right-color: transparent; border-style: solid; border-top-color: transparent; border-width: 1px; color: #009900; cursor: pointer; display: inline !important; float: none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">Space Station</span>, flight controllers tried but failed to fix the bad valve through remote commanding, the <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/nasa-astronauts-begin-urgent-spacewalking-repairs-21297124" style="color: #2e538f; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="external">Associated Press reported</a>.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">The 780-pound pump is about the size of a double-door refrigerator and difficult to handle, with plumbing full of toxic ammonia, AP reported.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">NASA said Saturday's spacewalk is the 175th in support of space station assembly and maintenance.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">The work of the two astronauts on Saturday is part of a series of spacewalks to replace the ammonia pump module. While the astronauts prepared the pump for removal on Saturday, it is expected to be replaced during a spacewalk on Monday.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">NASA says a third spacewalk would occur on <span class="pw7ji8k800" id="pw7ji8k800_6" style="border-left-color: transparent; border-right-color: transparent; border-style: solid; border-top-color: transparent; border-width: 1px; color: #009900; cursor: pointer; display: inline !important; float: none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">Christmas Day</span> if necessary to finalize the installation of the <span class="pw7ji8k800" id="pw7ji8k800_5" style="border-left-color: transparent; border-right-color: transparent; border-style: solid; border-top-color: transparent; border-width: 1px; color: #009900; cursor: pointer; display: inline !important; float: none; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">replacement pump</span> module. It would be the first Christmas spacewalk for NASA.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">The two astronauts received guidance on the spacewalk procedures from NASA astronauts Doug Wheelock and Tracy Caldwell-Dyson, who replaced the ammonia pump at the same location during three spacewalks in August 2010, NASA said.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;"><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">ABC News' Gina Sunseri contributed to this report.</em></div></div>

NASA Astronauts End Spacewalk Early After 5 Hours (BLOG)

Two American astronauts conducted an urgent repair outside the  International Space Station Saturday during a spacewalk that lasted five hou...

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