At 2:05 a.m. EDT, STS-134 spacewalkers Drew Feustel and Mike Fincke switched their suits to battery power, signifying the start of today’s planned six and a half hour excursion.
Feustel and Fincke will refill radiators with ammonia. They also will complete venting the early ammonia system, lubricate a left-side solar joint and parts of Dextre, a two-armed space station robot capable of handling delicate assembly tasks currently performed by spacewalkers.
Endeavour Mission Specialist Greg Chamitoff will be inside the International Space Station, coordinating communications between the spacewalkers and Mission Control in Houston and choreographing the spacewalkers’ activities. Greg Johnson and Expedition 27 crew member Cady Coleman will be operating the space shuttle and space station robotic arms in the later portion of the spacewalk.
This is the 246th spacewalk conducted by U.S. astronauts, the 157th in support of space station assembly and maintenance, the fifth for Feustel and the seventh for Fincke.
Feustel is wearing a spacesuit marked with solid red stripes, and his helmet camera displays number 18. Fincke is wearing an unmarked white suit, and his helmet camera displays number 20. Feustel is lead for this spacewalk.