According to Fox News, Two astronauts of the U.S. Space agency NASA have successfully completed nearly two hours of “high-flying plumbing” they underwent on a spacewalk of the International Space Station, or ISS.
On Friday, NASA officials reported that Scott Kelley, the ISS commander, and his colleague Kjell Lindgren worked for exactly seven hours and 48 minutes doing necessary maintenance work on the craft.
At 7:10 a.m. EST the astronauts left the station and planned to finish the extra planetary plumbing within six and a half hours, though were prepared to stay out longer if need be.
This marks the second spacewalk for Kelly and Lindgren in less than two weeks, after making necessary improvements and carrying out regular maintenance on Oct. 28.
NASA said that today’s space plumbing fixes consisted of reconfiguring the station’s cooling systems. These fixes were following an ammonia leak in 2012.
On the NASA website, viewers were able to see live feed of the astronauts returning the cooling systems back to their original configuration from the repairs made in 2012.
Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui coordinated the activities of his colleagues onboard the ISS as they made their repairs. Additionally, he assisted the astronauts suit up and prepare for their space walk.
The ISS, which is operated by 15 nations, has cost more than $15 billion. Its orbits reach speeds of over 16,000 mph and it operates at a distance of 249 miles from Earth.
This marks NASA’s 33rd spacewalk from outside the ISS. It also marks the 190th spacewalk in the history of the platform, which this year entered into its 15th year of continuous human presence. In its decade and a half, the station has seen more than 200 astronauts from 15 countries.
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