NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Image above: Mission Specialists Robert Satcher Jr. and Randy Bresnik work outside of the International Space Station during the final spacewalk of the STS-129 mission. Photo credit: NASA TV

› Meet the STS-129 Crew

Astronauts Complete Final STS-129 Spacewalk
Astronauts Randy Bresnik and Robert Satcher Jr. completed all their tasks during the third and final spacewalk scheduled during Atlantis’ mission to the International Space Station. It ended at 2:06 p.m. EST, lasting five hours and 42 minutes.

Inside the station astronauts Leland Melvin and Barry Wilmore operated the station’s Canadarm2, which played a major role in the spacewalk’s first and most lengthy task -- the installation of a 6.2-foot-long, 1,240-pound high-pressure oxygen tank. The arm lifted the tank from Express Logistics Carrier 2 (ELC2) and took it to the airlock, where it was attached.

While Satcher worked on early steps of the tank move, Bresnik got a materials experiment from Atlantis’ cargo bay and installed it on ELC2. The two also removed some debris shields from outside the airlock and strapped them to an external stowage platform.

Satcher released a bolt on an ammonia tank, part of the station's cooling system, in preparation for a spacewalk during the STS-131 mission next year to replace the tank. Satcher also installed insulated covers on cameras on the mobile servicing system and on Canadarm2’s end effector.

Meanwhile Bresnik installed a fluid jumper at the interface of the Port 1 and Port 3 truss segments, then did a similar task at Starboard 1/Starboard 3.

At the conclusion of the spacewalk, Bresnik thanked everyone for their support and commented, "I got to see my little girl for the first time yesterday, and I know there was many myriad of people across a lot of disciplines at JSC and the hospital staff that worked to make that happen."

› Listen to Bresnik's comments

On Sunday, Bresnik told the flight controllers his new daughter, Abigail Mae Bresnik, had been born in Houston at 11:04 p.m. CST Saturday. He said his wife Rebecca and new daughter, 6 pounds, 13 ounces and 20 inches long, were doing well. Bresnik got the news by private phone patch through mission control shortly after the crew was awakened.

› View video of announcement
› Read the Pre-flight Interview with Randy and Rebecca Bresnik

STS-129 Additional Resources
› STS-129 Mission Overview
› STS-129 Press Kit (15.5 Mb PDF)
› Mission Summary (518 kb PDF)
› More about STS-129 Crew
› Remaining Shuttle Missions (730Kb)

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