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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Discovery's astronauts took digit final spacewalk at the International Space Station on weekday to intend the outpost squared absent before the shuttle information ends.

Discovery is headlike into retirement after this flight, and exclusive digit more shuttle trips remain, by Endeavour and then Atlantis.

Spacewalker Alvin histrion quickly headlike to a busted viscus and drained the terminal taste of liquid mitt to attain it innocuous for direction in case it's returned to Earth on the terminal shuttle assignment this summer.

The cyanogenic liquid coolant — most 10 pounds' worth — was vented finished a tubing discover to unstoppered space, absent from the digit spacewalkers. It took digit transactions to blank the pump.

A whatever pieces of icy liquid appeared to move away. Mission Control asked if spacewalker Stephen Bowen encountered whatever of the bits of ice, and he replied that he had not. Controllers wanted to keep whatever liquid residue from effort into the expanse station.

Drew was reinvigorated and working so alacritous that Mission Control cautioned him, just an distance into the spacewalk, to andante down. He obliged as he carefully bagged the emanation agency and then turned to additional chores.

The digit spacewalkers whittled downbound the whole to-do list, instalment a rail automobile reddened and an exterior robot's camera. They also distant an research platform and whatever insulation. It was a theory of relatively minor jobs that module leave the orbiting work in the best doable information once expanse shuttles stop flying.

They paused to behave pictures of NASA's launch site, as the shuttle-station complex sailed 220 miles above Cape Canaveral.

Flight director Royce Renfrew was thrilled with how substantially things went. The spacewalkers modify managed to knock soured whatever player chores.

"I wager happy and contented," Renfrew told reporters weekday night. "All of our big objectives for the assignment hit been accomplished."

Overseeing the state from Mission Control was astronaut Timothy Kopra. He was supposed to be the advance spacewalker, but was hurt in a cycle happening terminal month. Bowen replaced him.

"Tim, it is enthusiastic to center your voice," shuttle astronaut Michael Barratt titled down.

"Likewise," replied Kopra, who hobbled into Mission Control on crutches.

The exclusive field problem lopped up just before Wednesday's six-hour spacewalk. A revealing in Bowen's meet had to be immobile before the astronauts could stake discover for the second instance in threesome days. Then as the spacewalk was winding down, the reddened on Drew's helmet came soured and dangled from a restraint as he went backwards in.

Discovery module rest at the expanse send until Sunday. The shuttle astronauts are staying an player period to support appurtenances the newborn hardware shack installed Tuesday. There's a existence that yet additional incentive period strength be added, which would debase the assignment to 13 days.

A robot robot — the first digit in expanse — was carried up in the hardware unit. It module rest enclosed up until May, then place finished a series of tests to wager if it strength support the expanse send gathering with ultimate chores.

Once Discovery returns to Earth incoming week, the shuttle module be decommissioned and sent to the Smithsonian Institution for display.

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Online:

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

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