SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468

Station Crew Preps for Wednesday's Spacewalk

ISS014-E-12586 : Michael Lopez-Alegria with pistol grip tool Image above: Expedition 14 Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria holds a pistol grip tool as he floats in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station. Image credit: NASA

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 is scheduled to begin Wednesday at 10 a.m. EST. Tasks scheduled for the first 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.

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 are "camping out" in the Quest airlock overnight to minimize preparation time Wednesday. 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.

+ Read more about the spacewalks http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition14/exp14_evas.html

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