NASA astronauts make second spacewalk; repair faulty ISS cooling system

Zee Media Bureau Cape Canaveral: Two US astronauts successfully fixed a faulty cooling system on Tuesday working outside the International Space Station (ISS). NASA astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins completed their second spacewalk in four days spending a time of 7.5 hours outside the ISS to replace the critical cooling system.

As they were installing a spare cooling pump, a sprinkling of ammonia crystals leaked out from one of four fluid lines. The toxic liquid turns to flakes in the cold and weightlessness environment of space. "Power was successfully restored to the ammonia pump module," NASA said. "However, flight controllers will perform more tests before restarting the pump and returning it to full functionality." Tuesday`s excursion was the second Christmas Eve spacewalk in the history of NASA. During a spacewalk on Saturday, the astronauts removed a failed cooling system pump and attached it to a temporary storage site at the base of the station`s mobile rail cart. NASA provided live broadcasts of both spacewalks. (With Agency inputs)