Quiet morning, busy afternoon
Friday, Oct. 11, 2002 at 11:30 a.m. EDT

The joint crews of shuttle Atlantis and the International Space Station enjoyed a few hours off this morning after Thursday's marathon work day in which they successfully attached the S1 truss to the outpost and staged the first of three spacewalks planned for this shuttle mission.

This afternoon the pace will pick up quite a bit as transfer operations get going. There are several hundred pounds of science experiments, equipment and supplies to be moved from Atlantis to the station and a lot of it will be done today.

The astronauts say that unpacking the shuttle and moving the cargo through the airlock and docking tunnel and into the station can be interesting at times. The real challenge is to make sure that everything that is delivered is properly stored and its location recorded.

Finding things in space is not very easy when you consider something can literally be floating anywhere.

In the meantime, the crewmembers will take turns exercising, participating in a trio of news media interviews and stepping through an involved set of procedures to recharge the spacewalkers' spacesuits and EVA systems for the next planned excursion outside on Saturday.

Second spacewalk on deck
Saturday, Oct. 12, 2002 at 9 a.m. EDT

Atlantis astronauts Dave Wolf and Piers Sellers are suiting up for the second of a planned three spacewalks during this STS-112 mission.

The spacewalking duo are to head outside about 10:45 a.m. EDT and spend another 6.5 hours or so working on the S1 truss that was installed on to the station on Thursday.

Although the truss is now permanently attached in terms of its mechanical connections, there still is a variety of plumbing lines and other systems that need to be plugged in to fully outfit the truss. Generally speaking, that's the type of task in store for Wolf and Sellers today.

You are invited to follow along with the spacewalk by watching NASA TV. A link to our feed of the agency's television channel is available above. During the spacewalk Wolf will be wearing the suit with red stripes. Sellers' suit has no markings.

Stay tuned to this page for periodic updates throughout the day. Unless the spacewalk is delayed, we'll plan to post our next update after the EVA officially begins.

Second spacewalk begins
Saturday, Oct. 12, 2002 at 10:35 a.m. EDT

Atlantis astronauts Dave Wolf and Piers Sellers officially began the second of their three planned spacewalks for this STS-112 mission at 10:31 a.m. EDT as the orbiting complex flew high over the South Pacific.

During the next 6.5 hours or so they are to continue working on the S1 truss that was installed on to the station on Thursday.

Although the truss is now permanently attached in terms of its mechanical connections, there still is a variety of plumbing lines and other systems that need to be plugged in to fully outfit the truss. Generally speaking, that's the type of task in store for Wolf and Sellers today.

You are invited to follow along with the spacewalk by watching NASA TV. A link to our feed of the agency's television channel is available above. During the spacewalk Wolf will be wearing the suit with red stripes. Sellers' suit has no markings.

Stay tuned to this page for periodic updates throughout the day. We expect to post our next update at about Noon EDT.

Spacewalk going well, more or less
Saturday, Oct. 12, 2002 at 12:05 p.m. EDT

Things are going well, more or less, with the second spacewalk of this STS-112 mission.

Dave Wolf and Piers Sellers are working through a very tedious task of disconnecting and connecting a large number of lines to configure the S1 truss for its eventual use as a device to help keep the space station cool by deploying three large radiator panels.

Each connector seems to be offering its own challenges, but the pair are working through the timeline with the help of pilot Pam Melroy, who is managing the spacewalk from inside the orbiting complex.

More of the same is expected during the next few hours.

You are invited to follow along with the spacewalk by watching NASA TV. A link to our feed of the agency's television channel is available above. During the spacewalk Wolf will be wearing the suit with red stripes. Sellers' suit has no markings.

Stay tuned to this page for periodic updates throughout the day. We expect to post our next update about 2:30 p.m EDT.

Spacewalkers getting the job done
Saturday, Oct. 12, 2002 at 2:45 p.m. EDT

Spacewalkers Dave Wolf and Piers Sellers continue to work through their timeline, finding difficulties where expected but overcoming them with a little extra effort.

During the past couple of hours they connected ammonia fluid lines, installed devices that will help prevent certain connectors from becoming jammed in the future and removed bolts so that equipment that was locked down during launch could be moved.

One of those devices is raiload handcar-like platform that can be moved along the rails that are part of the truss structure. The cart is meant to help carry things for future spacewalkers working on assembly tasks. In officially moving the cart for the first time, Wolf and Sellers sang a short song to the tune of "bicycle built for two." (Is that song title "Daisy?")

A little later the pair spent some time thanking everyone on the ground for all the hard work in supporting this mission and preparing the hardware that is necessary during a spacewalk.

Stay tuned to this page for periodic updates throughout the day. We expect to post our next update about 5 p.m EDT.

EVA No. 2 ends early
Saturday, Oct. 12, 2002 at 4:40 p.m. EDT

The second spacewalk of the STS-112 mission finished early, ending at 4:35 p.m. EDT. Total spacewalk duration today: six hours and four minutes.

Everything scheduled for completion during the spacewalk was done, and although they fell behind the timeline early in the sortie outside, Dave Wolf and Piers Sellers made up the time later and then actually got ahead.

"Thanks a lot everybody in Houston. It was a good day," Wolf radioed at the end.

"You guys rock," was the reply from Mission Control.

During this extravehicular activity they connected ammonia fluid lines, installed devices that will help prevent certain connectors from becoming jammed in the future and removed bolts so that equipment that was locked down during launch could be moved.

Another relatively quiet day is in store for the crew on Sunday, and then the third and final spacewalk is on schedule for Monday.

We will post a wrap up story shortly and look for the next update to this page on Sunday morning.

Day of many tasks
Sunday, Oct. 13, 2002 at 10:30 a.m. EDT

The joined shuttle and station crews are working through a generally quiet timeline today.

Their flight plan calls for the replacement of an exercise treadmill aboard the station, recharging systems and preparing tools for the third and final spacewalk of the mission on Monday, participating in a crew news conference at 2:31 p.m. EDT and deploying one of three radiator panels from the S-One truss at 4:16 p.m. EDT.

The radiator panel extension is being done as a test of sorts to make sure there are no unexpected problems following the hardware's launch and installtion. Although the heat-dispelling device will be deployed, it will not be activated until a future shuttle mission.

At 75 feet long, the radiator panel in addition to the 45-foot-long truss will give the station a new, somewhat lopsided look for the next few weeks until a mirror image of the S1 truss is carried into space and installed by the STS-113 crew flying space shuttle Endeavour in November.

For the record, Endeavour was rolled out to its launch pad early Saturday morning for a planned Nov. 10 liftoff. NASA has released the four-hour launch period for that mission. It is 10:30 p.m. EST Nov. 9, to 2:30 a.m. EST Nov. 10.

You are invited to watch the crew news conference this afternoon by clicking on the link above to NASA TV. This will be the only update to this box today. We will post a wrap-up story of today's events late this afternoon, and then check in here early Monday morning as we begin coverage of the final spacewalk.

Radiator deploy put off to Monday
Sunday, Oct. 13, 2002 at 4:15 p.m. EDT

NASA mission managers are delaying the deployment of a 75-foot-long radiator panel on the S1 truss until early Monday morning.

A minor technical problem with sensors on the device that would trigger a circuit breaker in the event an electrical overload delayed the deployment Sunday afternoon just long enough that there isn't enough time to get the job done today and still watch the deployment live on television -- a requirement of Mission Control.

So now the deployment is scheduled for a few minutes after the shuttle crew is awakened tomorrow at 3:52 a.m. EDT.

Flight controllers plannned to swivel a beam atop the S1 truss that holds the radiators within the hour, but that's where the effort will stop for the day.

Meanwhiile, the space station treadmill system was successfully replaced inside the Zvezda service module, with Expedition Five science officer Peggy Whitson serving as the chief mechanic.

Other work to prepare for the third spacewalk of the mission was accomplished today and the transfer of cargo between the shuttle and the station -- and vice versa -- continued through the day.

The crew will be wrapping up their work day and heading for bed at 7:46 p.m. EDT.