Piper and Kimboro left this evening shortly before eight o'clock Israel time for a second spacewalk in order to repair the broken solar collector bearing of the space station * The activity ended at 02:43 on 21/11 Israel time
On the 12th birthday of the International Space Station, astronauts Heidi-Marie Spetanshin-Piefer and Robert (Shane) Kimborough set out for their second spacewalk (out of four), which they started at 58:19 PM EST (58:45 PM Israel time). The spacewalk began 19 minutes earlier than planned. (Update, the spacewalk ended at 43:02 EST - 43:21 on 11/XNUMX according to Israel time, and according to NASA everything went smoothly).
For about six and a half hours outside the space station, the two, with the help of their colleagues from the station, will place an equipment car from the right side of one of the station's support sources, to the left end of that beam. After this is done, Kimboru will lubricate the locking elbow of the station's robotic arm, while Piper will continue the operation of inspecting, cleaning and greasing the ring of the Alpha solar collector motor and replacing 11 of the 12 bearings. One bearing was already replaced in June during the STS-124 spacewalk.
The bearings will be returned to Earth for further examination to try to discover the cause of their failure. When Kimboru finishes greasing the robotic arm he will join Piper in repairing the solar collector motor. As Piper remembers lost On the previous spacewalk, on Tuesday, her toolbox, which will now float in space until it falls and burns up in the atmosphere in a few months.
