Mission Specialist Soichi Noguchi works in Discovery's payload bay during his first spacewalk. Credit: NASA TV

1 Down, 2 to go. First-time Spacewalkers receive a 'Job Well Done'

STS-114 Mission Specialists Soichi Noguchi and Steve Robinson completed the first of their three spacewalks at the International Space Station at 12:36 p.m. EDT today. They began the excursion at 5:46 a.m. EDT.

Today's spacewalk was not only the first of mission STS-114 but also a first for Noguchi and Robinson.

"I'm happy to welcome Steve and Soichi in the EVA hall of fame," said Lead EVA Officer Cindy Begley in an early afternoon briefing after their first spacewalk. "I'm just more than happy with the performance today."

After setting up tools, the spacewalkers conducted tests of Shuttle heat shield repair techniques inside Space Shuttle Discovery's payload bay.

Then, they completed several assembly and repair tasks on the International Space Station. They replaced an antenna and swapped out connectors to supply power to Control Moment Gyroscope (CMG) No. 2. They also prepared the Station for their upcoming spacewalks slated for Monday and Wednesday.

Mission Operations Representative Phil Engelauf said the two-man spacewalk crew worked so efficiently they were able to add a few tasks to their time outside the spacecraft. Noguchi used a new digital camera to take more images of the Shuttle's exterior.

Inside, Space Station and Shuttle crewmembers unloaded equipment and supplies from the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module and transferred them to the Station.

STS-114 Pilot Jim Kelly used the Shuttle’s robot arm to conduct more focused inspections of Discovery’s wing edges.

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