The crew of the latest mission to the International Space Station have completed the second of the three spacewalks.
During the spacewalk a new ammonia tank assembly (ATA) was installed on the ISS’s Starboard 1 truss and verified to be operational by mission control, but a troublesome bolt on the tank caused the mission to fall behind schedule.
As a result, tasks including fluid connections to the ATA and the retrieval of two micrometeoroid debris shields for return to earth were deferred.
Nasa also announced that the STS-131 mission had been extended by a day to enable a standard late inspection of the shuttle heat shield while the shuttle was docked to the station.
The space station’s Ku system will transmit the heat shield video and laser scan for analysis, as the shuttle’s ku-band radar is not functioning correctly.
Discovery will now return to earth on 19 April 2010.
