SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468

*Astronauts Go to Work Outside Space Station 30 October 2007 * Image Above: Spacewalker Doug Wheelock exits the U.S. Quest joint airlock to begin the mission's third spacewalk. Image credit: NASA TV : to view image go to:http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

Astronauts Scott Parazynski and Doug Wheelock kicked off STS-120’s third spacewalk at 4:45 a.m. EDT. They are scheduled to spend seven hours outside the International Space Station helping install the Port 6 (P6) truss and inspecting the port Solar Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ).

The spacewalking duo will work at the outboard end of the port truss to assist with the robotic arm attachment of the P6 truss in its new location on the end of the Port 5 (P5) truss. Mission Specialists Stephanie Wilson and Clay Anderson and Expedition 16 Flight Engineer Daniel Tani will be the station robotic arm operators. Pilot George Zamka and Wilson will be at the controls of the shuttle robotic arm. Mission Specialist Paolo Nespoli will be the spacewalk coordinator.

Once the P6 installation is complete, Parazynski will inspect the port SARJ. Mission managers want to compare data from this inspection to the data gathered during Sunday’s inspection of the starboard SARJ, where vibrations and increased power usage has been seen.

Today’s spacewalk is the third for Parazynski and the second for Wheelock during this mission.

The spacewalk is slated to end at 11:45 a.m.

*Mission Information* + STS-120 Mission Overview http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts120/index.html + Harmony Node 2 http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/behindscenes/harmony_payload.html + Space Shuttle Discovery http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/shuttleoperations/orbiters/discovery-info.html