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US-Space/ ISS astronauts begin spacewalk
Jul 12, 2011, 13:27 GMT
Washington - Two members of the International Space Station crew left the orbiting laboratory Tuesday on a spacewalk to retrieve a broken part.
Americans Michael Fossum and Ron Garan exited the ISS at 1322 GMT with the goal of removing a failed external cooling pump that will be returned to Earth aboard the shuttle Atlantis.
Atlantis is making the final space shuttle flight to the ISS as NASA retires the 30-year-old fleet. It is the only spacecraft large enough to transport large cargo, such as the pump.
ISS crew members, rather than members of the Atlantis crew, are conducting the spacewalk because the shuttle has a smaller than usual four-person crew that was already constrained by a tight training schedule.
The final spacewalk by shuttle astronauts was part of the previous shuttle mission of the Endeavour in May.
NASA has added an extra day to the mission, due to the amount of material that must be transferred from Atlantis to the space station, with the shuttle's expected return to earth on July 21 for the very last shuttle landing in the 30-year programme.
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