Today mission specialists Takao Doi and Winston Scott conducted a spacewalk,
which became on STS-87 mission highlight.
They began their 7-hour,43-minute spacewalk after placing their spacesuits
on battery power at 6:02 p.m. CST. First, they was positioned themselves
in foot restraints opposite each other on the Spartan platform truss in
the Shuttle cargo bay. After Commander Kevin Kregel flew Columbia to a
point where Spartan was a few feet above the cargo bay, Doi and Scott captured
the satellite by hand at 8:09 p.m. CST. They then carefully lowered Spartan
onto its support structure, and Spartan was latched in place at 9:23 p.m.
With the retrieval of Spartan completed,
Doi and Scott evaluated tools and procedures which
would be used in assembly of the International Space Station.
Towards the end of their spacewalk, Doi took a few moments to send the
following message in Japanese just before re-entering Columbia's airlock,
"Hello, everyone in Japan, I'm Takao Doi. I'm satisfied with this
wonderful EVA Winston and I have performed. The view of the Earth from
space is magnificent, and I am deeply impressed with the sight. The view
of space also impresses me with its grand scale. Thank you very much for
supporting me!"
As the spacewalk extended one hour over the schedule, CAPCOM Bill McArthur
said "Good night" to the crew to reward them for their work from
Mission control.
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