Monday, April 12, 2010

Spacewalkers "Camping Out" in Airlock


Tue, 13 Apr 2010 01:26:13 AM GMT+0530

Mission Specialists Rick Mastracchio and Clayton Anderson configured their tools in the Quest airlock. After a review of spacewalk procedures with other crew members, they are again spending the night in the airlock, its pressure reduced to 10.2 psi. That campout is aimed at reducing the nitrogen in their blood to avoid decompression sickness.


The third and final STS-131 spacewalk is scheduled to begin at 3:11 a.m. EDT Tuesday and last 6.5 hours. Activities include finishing the complicated change out of the large ammonia tank assembly, retrieving micrometeoroid shields from outside the airlock and retrieving a light-weight adapter plate assembly.