Washington: Shuttle Atlantis astronauts
began the second of their mission's three spacewalks to
maintain and install more high-tech gadgets on the
International Space Station.
The sortie was yesterday delayed by over an hour after
false depressurisation alarms earlier rang through the
orbiting outpost and jolted mission specialists Mike Foreman
and Randy Bresnik awake after just two hours of sleep,
rattling preparations.
Bresnik, venturing out into space for the first time,
was most likely already restless as he awaited the birth of
his daughter back on earth.
His wife Rebbeca Burgin was due to give birth to the
couple's second child on Friday. If the baby is born during
the Atlantis mission, Bresnik would be only the second person
to become a father in space.
But he was forced to set aside family concerns and
concentrate on the task at hand, as the second exterior work
effort of the shuttle's 11-day mission got underway more than
an hour late, at 2001 IST. It was shortened by 30 minutes due
to the false alarms and set to last six hours.
Despite the shortened spacewalk, they were "well
ahead" of schedule and planned to get all of their tasks
completed, NASA said.
Bureau Report
First Published: Sunday, November 22, 2009, 09:49