SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468

*STS-117 Crew to Conduct Second Spacewalk*

S117-E-06914 -- Astronaut Jim Reilly participates in the first spacewalk of STS-117Image above: Astronaut Jim Reilly participates in the first spacewalk of STS-117 on Monday, June 11. Image credit: NASA

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

Astronauts Pat Forrester and Steve Swanson will conduct STS-117’s second spacewalk today. The objectives of the excursion are to continue preparing the newly installed Starboard 3 and 4 (S3/S4) truss segment for operation and to assist with the retraction of the starboard solar array on the Port 6 (P6) truss.

The spacewalk is scheduled to begin at 1803 UTC and to last 6.5 hours.

Retraction of the P6 array began at 1047 UTC Once the P6 arrays are furled, the stage is set for a future shuttle crew to relocate the P6 from atop the space station to the end of the Port 5 truss. Forrester and Swanson will assist in the retraction if needed during the early stages of the spacewalk.

The work with the S3/S4 will focus on preparing the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ) for operation by removing the remaining launch restraints. The SARJ will allow the starboard arrays to track the sun.

Mission Specialist Jim Reilly will coordinate the spacewalk and Mission Specialist Lee Archambault will operate the station’s robotic arm. Two more spacewalks are scheduled for STS-117.