Thursday’s EVA came almost two weeks after the August 19 spacewalk of Williams and Rubins that saw the successful installation of International Docking Adapter 2 on the station’s forward docking port to provide an orbital parking spot to Commercial Crew vehicles scheduled for their first missions next year. Also, Mission Controllers took advantage of still having experienced spacewalker Jeff Williams on the station to provide a helping hand in keeping ISS in ship shape before returning to Earth next week. Thursday’s spacewalk was added to the crew’s schedule after a gap opened up in the Station’s timetable due to the slip of the Cygnus OA-5 launch and the HTV-6 resupply mission. Still with time to spare, the crew serviced the Station’s Solar Alpha Rotary Joint, removed no-longer needed covers and reconfigured an equipment cart on the station’s truss. They then installed a pair of new HD cameras that will generate high-resolution still imagery and video for external inspections and Earth observations. Working on the far outside of the Station’s Truss, the spacewalking duo retracted a thermal radiator to preserve it as a spare for future use if needed. Spacewalkers Jeff Williams and Kate Rubins blazed through their task list in a busy EVA on Thursday, venturing outside the hatches of the International Space Station for over six and a half hours to complete a series of outfitting tasks on the exterior of the orbiting laboratory.
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