As our colleague, Ken Chang reports, two astronauts, Col. Michael S. Hopkins of the Air Force and Richard A. Mastracchio, are stepping out of an air lock on the International Space Station to replace a malfunctioning pump module. It is part of the space station’s cooling system.
NASA is providing a live video feed of the spacewalk, expected to last six and a half hours on Saturday. Colonel Hopkins and Mr. Mastracchio are scheduled to disconnect cables to the pump module and open up the insulation that covers it.
The astronauts are scheduled to fix the pump today and on Monday. But they are prepared to leave the air lock on the space station Christmas Day to finish the job.
