News From Space!

Flight Day 5 began Tuesday shortly before 1PM EDT Tuesday. ISS and Shuttle crewmembers unloaded equipment from Discovery, including the COLBERT treadmill.

Danny Olivas and Nicole Stott (now a member of ISS Expedition 20) spent 6 hours and 35 minutes outside the Station on the first EVA of the mission. The astronauts removed a 1300-lb (589 kg) ammonia coolant tank from the Station, and retrieved science experiments which were mounted outside the Columbus lab.

The crews went to sleep around 3:30AM EDT Wednesday morning. NASA reports:

First Spacewalk of STS-128 Mission Complete

Image above: Spacewalker Nicole Stott works outside the International Space Station during the first spacewalk of the STS-128 mission. Photo credit: NASA TV

Mission Specialist Danny Olivas and Expedition 20 Flight Engineer Nicole Stott completed the first spacewalk of the STS-128 mission at 12:24 a.m. EDT Wednesday. The astronauts began the spacewalk at 5:49 p.m. Tuesday.

During the spacewalk, shuttle Commander Rick Sturckow and Mission Specialist Pat Forrester guided the spacewalkers through the procedures. Pilot Kevin Ford and Flight Engineer Bob Thirsk operated the station’s robotic arm.

Crew members inside the International Space Station entered the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module and unloaded the air revitalization system, a new crew quarters compartment and the Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (COLBERT).

Flight Day 4 pics and video are up at the JSC Gallery. More clips at Space Multimedia and BBC. Live video at SFN. Discussion at Nasaspaceflight. Check the links at right for play-by-play and NASA TV.