Two of the Discovery team made a Shabbat trip in space
Update (07:40) - Since the following flights are grounded due to the insulation foam falling from Discovery's fuel tank during the launch, the mission managers decided to use the supplies brought by the astronauts on Discovery and extend their stay on the station by another day.
This is in order to help maintain the station, due to the fear that it may take another year before it is possible to fix the problem and return the shuttle to the space station.
Meanwhile, astronauts Soichi Noguchi and Steve Robinson completed the first of three spacewalks on the International Space Station yesterday. It was the first spacewalk for both of them.
After installing the tools, the two experimented with repair techniques for the heat shield, but not with the actual heat shield but with a sample of it that is in the cargo hold of the shuttle Discovery. Among the repair tools they used: mortar gun and putty.
They then performed some patchwork and repair work on the space station. They replaced an antenna and changed connectors to provide power to Controlled Torque Gyroscope (CMG) #2. They also prepared the software for their next walks scheduled for Monday and Wednesday.
One of the control center managers, Phil Engelauf, said the two worked so efficiently that they were able to add some tasks while they were out of the spacecraft. Noguchi used the digital camera to take a few more pictures of the shuttle's exterior.
Inside the station, the rest of the crew of the shuttle and the station disassembled the supplies and equipment from the Rafale module and moved them into the station.
Discovery pilot Jim Kelly used the shuttle's robotic arm to make some focused observations of Discovery's wingtips.
