SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468

*Astronauts Go Spacewalking, P6 Arrays Continue to Fold*

Image above: Spacewalker Pat Forrester rides on the end of the station's robotic arm to assist with the retraction of a solar array. Image credit: NASA TV

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

Astronauts Pat Forrester and Steve Swanson kicked off STS-117’s second spacewalk at 1828 UTC 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.

+ Watch the spacewalk live on NASA TV http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

They will spend most of the first hour of the 6½ hour spacewalk monitoring the retraction of the P6 array and will assist if required. Retraction of the array began at 6:47 a.m., and by 2:30 p.m., 7½ of the 31½ bays had been retracted. 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.

After the orbital duo leaves the P6, their attention will turn to the S3/S4 truss. Forrester and Swanson will prepare the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ) for operation by removing the remaining launch restraints. The SARJ will allow the arrays to track the sun.

Mission Specialist Jim Reilly is coordinating the spacewalk, and Pilot Lee Archambault is at the controls of the station’s robotic arm. Two more spacewalks are scheduled for STS-117. Today’s excursion is slated to wrap up about 0058 UTC.

In other activities, Expedition 15 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineers Oleg Kotov and Clayton Anderson continue to transfer cargo between the station and Space Shuttle Atlantis.

*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

*Media Resources* + STS-117 TV Schedule http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/mission_schedule.html + Certificate of Flight Readiness (3.7 Mb PDF) http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/178381main_readiness_%20certificate.pdf + STS-117 Press Kit (5.9 Mb PDF) http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/169479main_PressKit_117.pdf + RTF Final Implementation Plan -- May 2007 (19.8 Mb PDF) http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/178101main_rtfip_final_200705.pdf + STS-117 Fact Sheet (1.8 Mb PDF) http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/178546main_STS117%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf

*Visit the STS-117 Educator Resource Page* + Read more http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/k-4/features/STS117_index.html