Aboard the orbiting International Space Station Monday, the Expedition 18 crew had a bit of down time. After Sunday's suited fit check of their Orlan spacesuits, Commander Mike Fincke and Flight Engineer Yury Lonchakov relaxed Monday in advance of their spacewalk slated to begin at 12:20 p.m. EDT Tuesday. Lonchakov, the lead spacewalker or EV 1, will wear the Orlan suit with the blue stripes.
Fincke will be EV 2 and will wear the suit bearing the red stripes. NASA Television coverage begins at noon.
The primary objective of the six-hour excursion is to install the European EXPOSE-R experiment that could not be activated during their December spacewalk. EXPOSE-R is a European experiment that exposes seeds and spores to the space environment.
The spacewalkers also will secure thermal insulation and remove straps around the Zvezda docking ports and take extensive photography of the Russian segment of the complex.
Flight Engineer Sandra Magnus collected data for Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Control on Return from ISS (CCISS). The data gathered during CCISS will lead to countermeasures to help crew members maintain sufficient blood pressure after long duration missions.
The weather forecast is very favorable for the scheduled launch Wednesday night of space shuttle Discovery with only a few clouds and light winds forecast at Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
The STS-119 crew will take Discovery to the space station to deliver the S6 truss segment and install the outpost's final set of power-generating solar arrays.
The S6 truss will complete the backbone of the station and provide one-fourth of the total power needed to support a crew of six. STS-119 Mission Specialist Koichi Wakata will remain on the station, replacing Magnus on the Expedition 18 crew. Magnus will return to Earth with the STS-119 crew.
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