HOUSTON — A
shuttle astronaut pulled from a spacewalk earlier this week is feeling better as
he and his crewmates continue what they called an "amazing" construction flight
to the International Space Station (ISS).
German
astronaut Hans Schlegel declined to go into the details of his malady, but told
reporters that he is back at full strength after a medical issue prevented him
from taking part in a
Monday spacewalk to help deliver the European Space Agency's (ESA) Columbus
laboratory to the ISS.
"I'm doing
very fine," Schlegel said via a space-to-ground video link after he and
crewmates opened
the new lab today. "I worked all day today on Columbus and then to prepare
my [spacewalk] with Rex Walheim tomorrow."
Schlegel
and Walheim will pay a maintenance call on the space station's cooling system
Wednesday when they replace an empty nitrogen tank during their mission's
second spacewalk. Mission managers delayed the flight's first spacewalk,
originally planned for Sunday, by one day to swap Schlegel with fellow
spacewalker Stanley Love.
But while
he was personally disappointed in staying inside the NASA's Atlantis orbiter,
Schlegel said he supported the call and was excited to assist the spacewalkers from
inside the spacecraft alongside shuttle pilot Alan Poindexter.
"Nobody
could have been happier than me when we finished," Schlegel said. "That's all I
want to say because medical issues are private."
Commanded
by the veteran shuttle astronaut Stephen Frick, NASA's STS-122
mission to deliver Columbus and a new Expedition 16 crewmember to the
station is nearly half over. Tuesday marked Flight Day 6 of a planned 12-day
spaceflight, which includes two more spacewalks scheduled for Wednesday and
Friday, respectively.
"The view
of the Earth is probably the most incredible personal experience that people
have," Frick said from the flight deck of Atlantis. "It's just an amazing experience
and we get to do it for 11 or 12 days."
Atlantis'
seven-astronaut crew ferried French astronaut Leopold Eyharts of the ESA to the
ISS, where he joined the station's Expedition 16 crew and will oversee the commission
of Columbus over the next month. Eyharts replaced NASA astronaut Dan Tani, who
will return to Earth with the STS-122 crew when they land on Feb. 19.
Poindexter,
who like Love and crewmate Leland Melvin is making his first spaceflight on
STS-122, said the space station is a beautiful place to work, even if it is
only 57 percent complete.
"It's just
a wonderful experience," Poindexter said. "It's busy work, but it sure is fun."
NASA is
broadcasting Atlantis' STS-122 mission live on NASA TV. Click here for SPACE.com's
shuttle mission coverage and NASA TV feed.
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