Image above: Highlighted in this picture is an abrasion of Mission Specialist Rick Mastracchio's glove during STS-118's third spacewalk. Image: NASA TV

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Spacewalk ends early following spacesuit damage

Flight controllers decided just before 3 pm Wednesday to end the mission's third spacewalk early because of damage to the outer layer of one of Mission Specialist Rick Mastracchio’s gloves.

Even though there was no threat to his safety, the decision was made as a precaution.

View video of Rick Mastracchio's damaged spacesuit glove:
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Up to that point, Mastracchio, KC5ZTE, and Flight Engineer Clay Anderson, KD5PLA, were about an hour ahead of schedule and had completed the major tasks of the spacewalk. Mastracchio ended his portion of the spacewalk about 3 p.m. and Anderson wrapped up at 4:05 p.m.

Anderson finished with the retrieval of a transponder on the Port 6 truss after Mastracchio returned to the Quest airlock.

The damage was discovered during a routine scan of the gloves with Mastracchio’s helmet cam. Both gloves had damage, however, it was a small penetration in the outer layer of the left thumb that caused flight controllers to make the decision to end Wednesday’s spacewalk early.

Retrieval of the two MISSE experiments will be deferred to a future spacewalk. The experiments were deployed in August 2006 and will be returned to Earth for analysis.

Mastracchio and Anderson continued preparations for the relocation of the Port 6 (P6) truss and its solar arrays by moving two Crew Equipment Translation Aid carts along the Integrated Truss Structure rail system. This will allow the station’s arm to perform the P6 relocation work during STS-120. The P6 will be moved from atop the station to the end of the Port 5 truss.

Early in the spacewalk, the duo relocated an antenna from the Port 6 (P6) to the Port 1 (P1) truss. In addition to the antenna relocation, the spacewalkers installed a new transponder and signal processor in an S-band communications system upgrade.

Wednesday’s spacewalk was Mastracchio’s third of the mission. Anderson, who arrived at the station in June, conducted his first spacewalk on July 23 with Expedition 15 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin, RN3FI.

Mission Specialist Tracy Caldwell coordinated the spacewalk, and Pilot Charles Hobaugh was at the controls of the station’s robotic arm.

Mission Management Team Update

Mission Control told Space Shuttle Endeavour’s crew Wednesday that STS-118’s fourth spacewalk will be moved to Saturday. The decision gives the STS-118 and Expedition 15 crew members an extra day to prepare for the spacewalk, which was added to the mission after the STS-118 crew arrived at the station.

Mission managers in Houston continue to consider whether a spacewalk will be needed to repair a small gouge on Endeavour’s heat shield tiles. Before going to bed, the crew was informed that managers have decided the next spacewalk will be moved from Friday to Saturday, but that they haven’t decided whether Saturday’s spacewalk will be devoted to tile repair or get-ahead tasks.