Sunita Williams takes 8-hour stroll in space

WASHINGTON: Indian American astronaut Sunita Williams and International Space Station commander Mike Lopez-Alegria went on a seven-hour, 55-minute space walk in the first of an unprecedented three outings in nine days.

The duo returned to their home in space through the Quest airlock at 4:39 am IST on Thursday. They are scheduled to take their second space walk on February 4 and the third on February 8. While flight engineer Williams reconfigured electrical connections, Lopez-Alegria worked at the “rats’ nest”, an area near the base of the Z1 Truss with numerous fluid and electrical connections.

About 25 minutes of the space walk was spent in a “bakeout” after crewmembers had re-entered the airlock. They also will bring to 10 the total number of space walks by Lopez-Alegria, an astronaut record. Williams will have a total of four, the most ever by a woman. Starting from scratch, it takes about 100 crewmember hours to prepare for a space walk.

Already spanning an acre in orbit, the International Space Station this year will grow faster in size, power, volume and mass than ever before, significantly expanding its capabilities and setting new records for humans in orbit. “The station's operations will grow both in orbit and on earth. As we launch new international components this year, we also will begin new flight control operations from facilities around the world” said Kirk Shireman, the deputy programme manager for the ISS.