Houston – Restoration of a failed computer system returned life to a regular rhythm on the international space station Sunday, as two astronauts completed the fourth spacewalk since space shuttle Atlantis docked with the outpost a week ago.
“We’re slowly moving back into a normal mode of operations,” station commander Fyodor Yurchikhin radioed Mission Control in Moscow.
The “normal mode” included the last spacewalk of the mission, a previously unscheduled fourth trip outside the station to finish tasks originally scheduled for Friday’s spacewalk. Astronauts on the third spacewalk had the unplanned job of repairing a thermal blanket that had peeled back near Atlantis’ tail during the June 8 launch.
The nearly 6 1/2-hour spacewalk ended with astronauts Patrick Forrester and Steven Swanson completing nearly all their tasks.
They activated a rotating joint – their top priority – on the outpost’s newest segment so a new pair of solar wings can track the sun and provide power to the station. The arrays were delivered by Atlantis.
They also set up a new camera stanchion outside the station’s newest segment and a computer-network cable between the U.S. and Russian sides of the station. They were not able to bolt down a problematic debris shield and instead secured it with tethers.
Overnight, flight controllers on the ground planned to give the rotating joint a small test by moving it 5 degrees. A more thorough test to see whether the solar arrays track the sun was set for later today.
Atlantis is set to undock Tuesday and land Thursday in Cape Canaveral, Fla.
