By DPA,
Washington : Astronauts from the space shuttle Endeavour Thursday completed a second spacewalk on their construction mission to the International Space Station, which was marking its 10th anniversary.
Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper und Shane Kimbrough completed the second spacewalk at 00:43 GMT. The spacewalk lasted 6 hours and 45 minutes, and started 45 minutes ahead of schedule.
They moved equipment carts to allow astronauts to later install a truss, and lubricated 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 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.