Flight Day 8 wraps up with the third of four spacewalks done, and the Space Station’s ailing computers slowly coming back to life. NASA reports:
Spacewalkers Repair Thermal Blanket, Assist Array Folding
Image above: John (Danny) Olivas staples a loose thermal blanket to an adjacent one on the left OMS pod of Space Shuttle Atlantis. Image credit: NASA TVMission Specialists Danny Olivas and Jim Reilly performed repair work and helped fold solar arrays Friday during STS-117’s third spacewalk. The 7-hour, 58-minute excursion wrapped up at 9:22 p.m. EDT.
Shortly after the spacewalk’s start, Olivas and Reilly went to work on separate tasks. Olivas completed repair work on a thermal blanket that was out of position on space shuttle Atlantis. While attached to the shuttle robot arm, Olivas tucked the blanket back into place and then used a medical stapler to secure it to adjacent blankets on the left orbital maneuvering system pod.
Reilly went to work outside the International Space Station where he installed a hydrogen vent on the Destiny Laboratory. The vent is for a new oxygen generation system.
Later the spacewalkers moved up to the top of the P6 to assist with the retraction of the starboard solar array. A future shuttle crew will relocate the P6 to the end of the Port 5 truss.
Mission Specialist Pat Forrester coordinated Friday’s spacewalk activities. Pilot Lee Archambault and Mission Specialist Steve Swanson are the robot arm operators. STS-117’s final spacewalk will take place Sunday.
Early Saturday, Mission Specialist Suni Williams will break the record for longest-duration space flight by a woman. At 1:47 a.m., Williams will pass the 188-day, 4-hour mark held by Shannon Lucid since 1996.
Flight Day 7 videos are up at the JSC Gallery. Check the links at right for play-by-play and NASA TV.

