Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas
The fourth spacewalk by Endeavour astronauts outside the International Space Station will be the focus of today's activities in space.
Engineers continue to explore options for the off-and-on Urine Processor Assembly (UPA). It ran for almost three hours and processed about a gallon of liquid Sunday, after modifications by Expedition 18 Commander Mike Fincke and Endeavour Mission Specialist Don Pettit, before shutting down.
Today Fincke will install two bolts in the UPA's distillation assembly to further reduce vibration. He is scheduled to begin that work about 1 p.m. CST.
Endeavour crew members, Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Eric Boe and mission specialists Pettit, Steve Bowen, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, Shane Kimbrough and Greg Chamitoff, as well as Fincke and station flight engineers Yury Lonchakov and Sandra Magnus, were awakened at 7:55 a.m. The song was "Can't Stop Loving You," by Van Halen. It was played for Piper.
Spacewalkers Bowen and Kimbrough are scheduled to leave the station's Quest airlock at 12:45 p.m. Bowen will wear the all-white suit and Kimbrough's suit will have broken red stripes. They will work to finish up cleaning, lubrication and bearing assembly replacements on the starboard Solar Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ).
That joint has been the focus of activities on the first three spacewalks of Endeavour's mission to the station. It has been used sparingly since increased power consumption and vibrations were noticed in September last year. A test of the joint rotating in the mode to automatically track the sun will be done early Tuesday morning to judge the repair work.
Kimbrough will lubricate the port SARJ, which has been working fine, and install a TV camera on the station's truss. Bowen will inspect a balky berthing mechanism latch on the Japanese Kibo laboratory and reinstall a cover over it. He'll also install a Global Positioning Satellite antenna that will guide the future unpiloted Japanese cargo vehicle to a point near the station, where the station's Canadarm2 will grasp it for berthing. Boe will be today's intravehicular officer, or spacewalk choreographer. The spacewalk is to last about 6.5 hours.
Transfer of equipment and supplies, now mostly from the station to Endeavour and the Leonardo cargo carrier, which the shuttle will bring back home, is still a little ahead of schedule. Today marks the final day for transfer of equipment into Leonardo as it will be closed Tuesday.
Endeavour's crew is scheduled to go to bed at 11:55 p.m. today and be awakened at 7:55 a.m. Tuesday. The next shuttle status report will be issued at the end of the crew day, or earlier if events warrant.
