LOS ANGELES, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Two NASA astronauts completed a spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday to replace a malfunctioning component on Canadarm2, the station's robotic arm, NASA said.
NASA astronauts Chris Williams and Jessica Meir started their spacewalk at 8:20 a.m. Eastern Time (0120 GMT) and spent about seven hours and 20 minutes outside the orbiting laboratory. Their primary task was to replace a malfunctioning wrist joint on Canadarm2 that had experienced a failure during routine operations on May 27.
Following the repair, NASA's Mission Control in Houston powered up Canadarm2 and successfully completed an initial check out of the system's power and data connectivity. Over the coming week, ground controllers will continue additional system checkouts, including moving the robotic arm, NASA said.
Canadarm2 is part of the Canadian Space Agency's contribution to the ISS. Installed on April 22, 2001, the 17.6-meter-long robotic arm played a key role in the assembly of the orbiting laboratory and continues to support its maintenance and operations.
The robotic arm helps perform ISS maintenance; move supplies, equipment and astronauts; and capture visiting spacecraft before berthing them to the ISS.
The mission marked the second spacewalk completed together by Williams and Meir, and the 280th spacewalk in support of ISS assembly, maintenance and upgrades. ■