By DPA,
Washington : Astronauts from the space shuttle Endeavour Thursday began a second spacewalk on their construction mission to the International Space Station, which was marking its 10th anniversary.
Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper und Shane Kimbrough are to move equipment carts to allow astronauts to later install a truss, and lubricate the hand on the station’s robotic arm and the joint on one of the solar panels that provides power to the ISS.
Most of the mission’s four spacewalks will be devoted to getting the joint in order. It has been defective for more than a year.
The spacewalk began about 45 minutes early at 1758 GMT and was to last about six and a half hours.
The Endeavour arrived at the ISS Sunday on a 15-day “home improvement” mission. It delivered 6,538 kg of supplies and equipment to upgrade the space station’s living space and prepare it for more residents on longer-term assignments, after the retirement in 2010 of the US fleet of aging reusable orbiters.