Astronauts Outfit Space Station in Mission's Last Spacewalk

This story was updated at 2:15 a.m. EDT.

Two spacewalking astronauts primed the International Space Station Saturday for future shuttle visits Saturday despite dealing with a wayward spacesuit camera that almost came loose late in their work.

The helmet-mounted video camera and lights on Swedish astronaut Christer Fuglesang?s spacesuit popped free from their mooring, but luckily never fully came unplugged. The glitch occurred late in what was an otherwise smooth seven-hour spacewalk, with Fuglesang and crewmate Danny Olivas accomplishing nearly all of their station maintenance tasks.

Olivas managed to attach a tether on helmet camera before it drifted away and handed it back to Fuglesang for safekeeping. Mission Control noticed the loose camera when views from Fuglesang?s spacesuit began to shift wildly.

?We thought you were doing tremendous acrobatics,? Mission Control radioed the spacewalkers.

It was the third spacewalk in five days for Discovery shuttle astronauts, who launched last week on a 13-day mission to deliver a new crewmember and supplies to the space station. Mission Control packed the excursion with odd jobs to repair station systems and prepare for future construction.

Fuglesang was wrestling with a stubborn power cable connector that refused to plug in - the spacewalk?s only other hitch - when the camera glitch occurred. Crewmate Patrick Forrester, who choreographed the work from inside Discovery, told him to stand down for fear of shaking the camera completely loose.

Without the aid of his helmet camera and attached lights, Fuglesang returned to the space station?s airlock before the sun set as the station passed over the Earth?s night side.

?Christer, no need to rush but hurry every chance you get,? Forrester said. ?Sunset in about six minutes.? Fuglesang made it back inside safely and was ready to use his dismounted helmet lights as a flashlight if needed.

Fuglesang said he may have bumped the camera against part of the station to set it free. But Zeb Scoville, lead spacewalk officer for Discovery?s flight, said the system is designed to prevent that and an unseated latch is more likely the culprit.

Spacewalk finale

Olivas and Christer Fuglesang began the seven-hour, one-minute spacewalk at 4:39 p.m. EDT (2039 GMT) as the station flew 220 miles (354 km) over western Argentina.

Olivas, the mission?s lead spacewalker, and Fuglesang made quick work of deploying a fold-out platform on the station?s starboard side. The platform will serve as a storage point for large spare parts due to be shipped to the station during a November shuttle flight.

They also installed a pair of new Global Positioning System antennas and replaced a failed component in the station?s attitude control system, as well as a broken circuit breaker box. Mission Control tested the replaced devices while the spacewalkers were still outside and declared the repairs a success.

?That?s awesome, that?s great news,? Olivas said.

The spacewalkers also uncoiled and installed two 60-foot (18-meter) power and data cables so they can support a new space station room, called Tranquility, which is due to be delivered to the outpost next year. It was one of those power connectors that refused to lock in place, so the astronauts secured it down and moved on.

Space station flight director Heather Rarick said astronauts on a future mission will try to connect the power cable and, if necessary, draw up a backup plan to get power to Tranquility. The new room is not slated to arrive at the station until February 2010, so there?s no rush, she added.

?We definitely have some time,? Rarick said.

Shuttle mission?s homestretch

Saturday?s orbital work marked the 133rd spacewalk dedicated to space station construction and the fifth career excursion for both Olivas and Fuglesang. Olivas ended the day with 34 hours and 28 minutes of total spacewalking time under his belt while Fuglesang finished with 31 hours and 54 minutes.

With five spacewalks to his name, Fuglesang - who represents the European Space Agency on Discovery?s crew - is now the most experienced spacewalker who is not American or Russian. The world spacewalk record is held by Russian cosmonaut Anatoly Solovyov, who performed 16 career spacewalks.

Discovery astronauts spent a total of 20 hours and 15 minutes working outside the station during their three spacewalks. They replaced a massive ammonia coolant tank and retrieved old experiments on the other two excursions.

Inside the space station Saturday, astronauts continued packing up the 21-foot (6.4-meter) long cargo module that they brought to the space station with trash and other equipment no longer needed on the orbiting lab. They also replaced a jammed bolt, one of 16 bolts securing the cargo module to the station, during a five-hour repair.

On Sunday, the astronauts will finish packing up the cargo module and prepare to return it to Discovery?s payload bay. The shuttle is due to undock from the space station Tuesday and land in Florida Thursday evening.

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SPACE.com is providing complete coverage of Discovery's STS-128 mission to the International Space Station with Managing Editor Tariq Malik and Staff Writer Clara Moskowitz in New York. Click here for shuttle mission updates and a link to NASA TV.