This time, spacewalkers Mike Possum and Ron Garan made final adjustments to the exterior of the Japanese space laboratory Kibo and performed maintenance work in other areas of the station
Spacewalkers Mike Possum and Ron Garan began their third spacewalk around five o'clock in the evening Israel time. STS-124 Mission Commander Mark Kelly assisted the astronauts in preparing for the planned six and a half hour mission.
On the two previous spacewalks, Possum and Garan installed the Japanese Kibo component and performed the required maintenance work on the International Space Station. Today they replaced a nitrogen tank, installed TV equipment and removed a thermal cap from the Japanese lab's new robotic arm.
Astronaut Akihiko Hoshida of the Japanese Space Agency operated Kibo's robotic arm and photographed the spacewalkers working outside the station. Hoshida and Karen Nyberg also assisted Possum and Garan with the station's main Canadian-made robotic arm.
After the two returned to the station, Hoshida and Nyberg will continue to make adjustments to the vestibule inside Kibo's logistics module. They will install and activate the Japanese robotic arm into its storage mode.
The exchange ceremony was performed at the station, in which Greg Chaimtoff was accepted as the flight engineer of the station's 17th crew, while Garrett Reisman, who served in this position for the past three months, will join the Discovery crew and return to Earth.
