Spacewalkers Ahead of Schedule

Spacewalkers Mike Foreman and Randy Bresnik are about 40 minutes ahead of schedule. They installed a Grappling Adaptor to On-Orbit Railing Assembly, or GATOR, on the Columbus laboratory. GATOR is part of a project to demonstrate two different types of Automatic Identification System (AIS) receivers. AIS is an existing system used by ships and the Coast Guard’s Vessel Traffic Services to exchange data such as ship’s identification, purpose, course and speed. The assembly also includes an antenna used for ham radio, the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) antenna.