Evidence of an electrical short-circuit that charred external wires on the Mir space station has been found by spacewalking cosmonauts.

The crew of Russia's space station Mir found the damage outside of their orbital home during a nearly six-hour spacewalk. Cosmonauts Sergei Zaletin and Alexander Kalery opened the outer hatch of the Kvant 2 module at 6:44 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (10:44 GMT; 2:44 p.m. Moscow Time) today.

The cosmonauts were only able to update Mission Control approximately once an hour with their status, when the space stations orbit brought it within radio contact with the ground.

EVA status as of 2:00 p.m. EDT (18:00 GMT)

Cosmonauts Sergei Zaletin and Alexander Kalery, successfully completed their spacewalk, mission control representative told SPACE.com. The outer hatch onboard Kvant-2 airlock was closed at 11:36 a.m. EDT (7:36 p.m. Moscow Time), 39 minutes ahead of schedule. The entire walk outside the station lasted 4 hours 52 minutes.

The cosmonauts brought inside the station a panel which tested a new glue for sealing air leaks onboard spacecraft and an experimental solar array, which had been exposed to the environment of space for a year and a half.

During the next few hours the crew was expected to tighten the screws of the hatch separating them from the vacuum of space and fill the airlock with air, before returning into pressurized compartments of the station.

In the next few days the mission control specialists expect to review still photos and videotapes made by the crew during the spacewalk.

The crew is expected to rest during the weekend.

EVA status as of 11:30 a.m. EDT (15:30 GMT)

Zaletin and Kalery, working outside the Mir space station, have successfully completed most of the tasks planned for their 5.5-hour spacewalk and currently are preparing to return into the station, a mission control representative said.

During the last communication session between the station and the ground, which took place between 10:35 and 10:59 a.m. EDT (14:35 and 14:59 GMT), the cosmonauts reported they have already returned to the exterior of the Kvant 2 airlock, to pack the hardware to be returned inside the station.

In the past few hours, the cosmonauts inspected one of the solar panels attached to the Kvant 1 module and found the location of damage to the wiring that conveys energy from the array. Preliminary data show that a short circuit burned the wiring at the base of the panel. Working on the exterior of the Kvant 1 module, Kalery physically rotated the panel in its socket, ensuring there were no mechanical problems.

Two folding panels were delivered to Mir by the space shuttle in 1995 along with the station's docking module and later were transferred to the Kvant 1 module. One panel, capable of generating 100 amperes failed in March and currently does not supply electricity to the station. The second array functions normally, a Mission Control representative said.

During the spacewalk, the cosmonauts also made a trip to the docking module of the station, where they removed the experimental thin-film solar panel.

EVA status as of 10:00 a.m. EDT (14:00 GMT)

Zaletin and Kalery, currently working outside Mir space station, reported that they found signs of the electrical fire on wiring leading to the one of the two solar panels attached to the Kvant 1 module.

During a communication session with mission control between 9:01 and 9:24 a.m. EDT (13:01 and 13:24 GMT), the cosmonauts said some of the wiring leading to the solar panel appeared to be burned. Ground control advised the crew to pay close attention to the interfaces connecting solar panels to the electrical wiring of the station. The crew inspected the area to determine the cause of problems with the orientation of the panel.

Both cosmonauts currently are working on the rear end of the Mir space station, where the Kvant 1 module and Progress cargo ship are located.

In the following hours, the cosmonauts are planning to move to the Kristall module, where they will detach the thin-film solar panel. The device was installed on the external surface of the docking compartment of the module in November 1998, to test long-term exposure to the conditions of space.

The work outside the station is on schedule, a Mission Control representative said.

The next opportunity for mission control to talk with the space-walking cosmonauts will come between 10:35 and 10:59 a.m. EDT (14:35 and 14:59 GMT).

EVA status as of 8:30 a.m. EDT (00:30 GMT)

During a communication session between 7:27 and 7:51 a.m. EDT (11:27 and 11:51 GMT) with Mission Control in Korolev, the cosmonauts confirmed that the spacewalk is going according to schedule. The Germitizator experiment, testing a new glue to seal leaks on board piloted spacecraft, was successfully deployed and Zaletin rode the crane-like Strela device to the Kvant 1 module at the rear of the space station. There the cosmonauts are planning to examine the driving mechanism of one of the solar panels and photograph the Progress M 1-2 cargo ship docked to the station.

Ground controllers reviewed data from orbit and found all systems in excellent shape during the spacewalk, a Mission Control representative in Korolev told SPACE.com.

The next opportunity for ground controllers to talk with the spacewalking cosmonauts will come between 9:01 and 9:24 a.m. EDT (13:01 and 13:24 GMT).

EVA start -- 6:44 a.m. EDT (10:44 GMT)

A 1997 orbital collision between the Progress cargo ship and the Mir space station, which almost took the lives of two Russians and one U.S. astronaut, spurred extensive research in Russia on different methods of finding and fixing leaks on board piloted spacecraft.

Several methods have been tried by Mir's previous crews in a fruitless search for the exact location of the leak.

During the spacewalk, the cosmonauts will deploy an waffle-like device, which they will fill with special glue designed to seal the leaks. The device will be returned to inside of the station at the end of the spacewalk for analysis.

Immediately following the sealing-glue experiment, the pair will move to the rear of the complex, where the cosmonauts will examine the rotating mechanism driving the solar panel on board the Kvant 1 module, as well as the Progress cargo ship docked to the module.

Then one of the cosmonauts will ride a giant crane-like device called Strela (Arrow) to move to yet another end of the station. The goal is to remove an experimental thin-film solar panel from the docking module of the station. The panel was deployed outside the station in one of the previous missions to test for long-term exposure to the harsh conditions of space.

The 28th long-duration mission to Mir became possible thanks to private funds raised by MirCorp based in the Netherlands. The company rented the resources of the station from RKK Energia and intends to turn the outpost into a for-profit facility.