SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468

*Station Crew Conducting Spacewalk*

Image above: Flight Engineer Sunita Williams, as seen through Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria's helmet camera, assists with a task during the spacewalk. Image credit: NASA TV

TO VIEW PICTURE GO TO: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

The first of three spacewalks in nine days by Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and Flight Engineer Sunita Williams began today at 10:14 a.m. EST. Tasks scheduled for today's six-hour, 30-minute excursion include reconfiguring one of two cooling loops for the Destiny module, rearranging electrical connections and securing and covering the starboard radiator of the P6 truss after retraction.

+ Read more about the spacewalk http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition14/exp14_eva6.html + Watch spacewalk live on NASA TV http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

Lopez-Alegria and Williams completed preparations for the spacewalk on Tuesday, checking out the tools they will use during the spacewalk and conducting a final review of procedures with specialists in Mission Control, Houston.

The pair "camped out" in the Quest airlock overnight to minimize preparation time this morning. The reduced air pressure in the airlock protects against decompression sickness as spacewalkers go to the even lower pressure in the spacesuits for the spacewalk.

On Monday, Expedition 14 Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria, assisted by Flight Engineer Suni Williams, swore in 16 sailors aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower during a special live link-up from the space station. Lopez-Alegria and Williams, both U.S. Naval Academy graduates, conducted the long-distance re-enlistment ceremony as the station orbited 220 miles above the Earth.

+ Read more about this event http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition14/exp14_Navy_swear_in.html

+ Expedition 14 Mission Status Briefing Materials, Jan. 26, 2007 http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition14/exp14_msb_012607.html + Read more about Expedition 14 http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition14/index.html + Read more about Expedition 15 http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition15/index.html + View crew's daily timelines http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/timelines/index.html