A NASA handout shows astronaut Tim Kopra. Astronauts from the US space shuttle Endeavour were to venture into open space Monday on the mission's second spacewalk aimed at helping complete the International Space Station. (AFP)
Astronauts from the US space shuttle Endeavour were to venture into open space Monday on the mission's second spacewalk aimed at helping complete the International Space Station.
Astronauts Dave Wolf and Tom Marshburn spent part of Sunday preparing special tools, reviewing procedures and beginning their campout in a special decompression chamber in preparation for the walk, which is set to start at 11:28 am (1528 GMT).
The bulk of the Sunday's schedule was taken up with moving equipment from the Endeavour onto the ISS and fixing a malfunctioning toilet system aboard the ISS.
The toilet was likely flooded earlier in the day when its dose pump failed after running for about 15 minutes, NASA officials said.
As a result, about six liters of pre-treated water may have flowed into the pump separator and other areas, flooding the separator.
On Saturday, Tim Kopra and Wolf carried out a five-hour and 32-minute spacewalk to complete construction of the Japanese Kibo laboratory.
"The third and final piece of Japan?s Kibo laboratory was assembled on orbit Saturday, a symphony of robotic and spacewalking performances by the 13-member orchestra aboard the International Space Station complex," NASA said in a statement.
The 1.9-tonne unit known as the Japanese Exposed Facility (JEF) will serve "as a type of porch for experiments that require direct exposure to space," NASA said.
Earlier, on their first full day in space, the Endeavour crew of six Americans and one Canadian tested rendezvous equipment, installed a camera for the orbiter docking system and extended the docking ring that sits on top of the system.
The Endeavour mission aims to help fulfill "Japan's hope for an out-of-this-world space laboratory," as the shuttle delivers state-of-the-art equipment to conduct experiments in the vacuum of space, according to NASA.
The shuttle successfully docked at the space station Friday amid questions about the integrity of the shuttle's heat shield tiles.
However, NASA on Saturday said that a close analysis of pictures of Endeavour's heat shield confirmed the absence of any damage.
During the delicate docking maneuver Friday the two space vehicles traveled at 28,000 kilometers (17,398 miles) per hour as they approached each other, giving Commander Mark Polansky a margin of error of 4.5 centimeters (1.8 inches) to complete the procedure, NASA said.
The entry of Endeavour's crew aboard the ISS brought the number of astronauts inside the orbiting space station to a record 13.
Endeavour crew member Kopra will be staying aboard the ISS, taking over from Japanese engineer Koichi Wakata, who has been in space for 124 days.
The ISS should be completed in 2010, also the target date for the retirement of the US fleet of three space shuttles.
(Agencies)
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