Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

HOUSTON – After spending the night camped out in the Quest airlock, astronauts Mike Fossum and Ron Garan are prepared to embark on the second of three spacewalks today to continue the outfitting of the newly installed Kibo laboratory.

Fossum and Garan's spacewalk today will focus on removing the thermal covers and other insulation on the outside of the laboratory, including the covers on Kibo's robotic arm. In addition to installing some cameras on the outside of Kibo that will be used to monitor external payload work, they will also work on the zenith hatch of Kibo to remove some insulation that may get in the way of the hatch's locking mechanism.

Fossum and Garan also will complete some advance work on a nitrogen tank assembly that will be replaced on the third and final spacewalk of the mission. Today's spacewalk is scheduled for 6.5 hours.

Crew members woke up at 5:32 a.m. Thursday to "Fly Away," performed by Lenny Kravitz. The song was played for Garan.

Crew members will work to complete the transfer of the remaining racks from inside the Japanese Logistics Pressurized Module, delivered to the station by Endeavour in March. The hatch to that module will be closed this afternoon in preparation for its Friday relocation from the Harmony node to its final position on the Japanese Experiment Module, as part of Kibo.

The crew is scheduled to go to sleep at 9:32 p.m. Thursday and awaken at 5:32 a.m. Friday.

The next status report will be issued at the end of the crew's day, or earlier if events warrant.

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