Two astronauts have left the International Space Station on a spacewalk to fix a stalled rail auto.
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News 6 partner Florida Today reported that NASA and its partners want the transporter locked down before the planned Wednesday morning arrival of a Russian Progress resupply ship, which will require the station to maneuver into position and then absorb the force of the docking Progress vehicle.
According to Kenny Todd, the station’s Mission Integration and Operations Manager in Houston, the stall could have been caused by a stuck brake handle.
Expedition 46 commander Scott Kelly and flight engineer Tim Kopra of NASA are set for a spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS) on either Monday or Tuesday.
“Good news! It appears to have reached the work site”, astronaut Mike Hopkins in Mission Control told the spacewalkers a short time later. Still, the current problem and the high-wire act that may be necessary to sort it out is one more reminder that even for an orbital outpost that has been continually occupied for 15 years now, space never has-and never will be-easy.
The rail auto needs to move about four inches so it can be latched into place.
The rail auto is part of the station’s mobile transport system, which is normally used to transport people and equipment, including the station’s big robot arm.
It will be third spacewalk for Scott Kelly (EV1, white suit with red stripes) and second for Tim Kopra (EV2, plain white suit).
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