STS-132: 2 Spacewalks and an Install

Is Mission Specialist Stephen Bowen up or down? You Decide!

Monday saw mission specialists Garrett Reisman and Stephen Bowen complete the first spacewalk of the mission. The two astronauts installed some backup communications antenna equipment on the station exterior. Before completing their tasks, they also did some prep work on the station batteries which would be the object of the second spacewalk.

The next day, astronauts from STS-132 and the Expedition 23 crew worked the robotic arms to move the Russian experiments module out of Atlantis' cargo bay and install it on the station.

The second walk was completed today. Steve Bowen and Michael Good exchanged 4 of the station truss' six batteries, placing new ones in the set. In addition, they repaired a cable snag on the orbiter's robotic boom arm. They are actually now ahead of schedule with their planned activities for the fourth spacewalk in a couple of days. The next planned activity is to open the Russian Module and get it working.