Among the performers of today's spacewalk was Randy Breznik who two days ago became a new father
The third and final spacewalk of the STS-129 mission outside the International Space Station has ended. Before returning to Israel on the Atlantis shuttle, Robert Satcher and new father Randy Breznik performed a spacewalk that lasted five hours and 42 minutes. The duo completed the primary missions planned for this spacewalk and also performed several additional missions that were advanced from future spacewalks to this mission.
It was the 230th spacewalk performed by American astronauts and the second for both of them. It is also the 136th mission to support the assembly and maintenance of the International Space Station.
The two astronauts drove a high-pressure oxygen tank from the logistics cargo carrier located on the outer side of the shuttle's runway, to a point outside the airlock. The tank will be used to return the atmosphere lost to space when leaving for space walks and re-entering the station.
While Satcher completed assembling the container, Breznik installed the MISSE 7 experiment, the most sophisticated material exposure experiment to date, which would be the first to receive power directly from the station and use the station's communication system to transmit commands and download data in real time.
At the end of the spacewalk, Breznik thanked everyone for their support. "I was able to see my little daughter for the first time yesterday and I know that many people in different and varied positions at the Johnson Space Center and the hospital staff worked hard to make the birth a success." said.
