SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468

*Thermal Blanket Repair, Vent Installation on Tap Today* Image above: The partially retracted solar array on the Port 6 truss. Image credit: NASA TV

TO VIEW IMAGE GO TO:http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

STS-117 Mission Specialists Jim Reilly and Danny Olivas will tackle separate tasks today when they begin the mission’s third spacewalk.

Olivas’ first task of the spacewalk, scheduled to begin at 1738 UTC, is the repair of a thermal blanket that is out of position on space shuttle Atlantis. Working from the end of the Atlantis’ robot arm, he will tuck the blanket back position and then staple it back into position on the left orbital maneuvering system pod.

Meanwhile, Reilly will install a hydrogen vent on the International Space Station’s Destiny Laboratory. The vent is for a new oxygen generation system.

The duo will then go to the top of the station’s Port (P6) truss to assist in the retraction of a solar array. Over a two-day period the crew has folded most of the array bays. A future shuttle crew will relocate the P6 to the end of the Port 5 truss.

If time allows, Reilly and Olivas will tackle other tasks outside the station. The spacewalk is scheduled to last 6½ hours.

Mission Specialist Pat Forrester will coordinate today’s spacewalk activities. Pilot Lee Archambault and Steve Swanson are the robot arm operators.

*STS-117 Mission* + The Crew http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts117/index.html

+ The Mission http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts117/mission_overview.html

+ The Integrated Truss Structure http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/its.html