Second voyage of the astronaut Endeavor

Two space shuttle astronauts Endeavor completed the second spacewalk trip in anticipation of four flights on the evening of May 22, after more than eight hours of space flight, according to AFP.

>> Close-up of the last flight of the shuttle Endeavor

Astronaut Drew Feustel and Mike Fincke (together with NASA's Aeronautics and Space Agency ) began to step out of the International Space Station (ISS) at 13:05 on May 22 (VN time) and completed my work after 8 hours 7 minutes (ie 21 hours 12 minutes on the same day), lasts longer than expected 1 hour 30 minutes.

Astronaut Andrew Feustel is working with Canadian-designed Dextre robot arm
Photo: Reuters

In the process of hovering out of space, both performed maintenance of equipment outside the station such as moving parts of solar panels, arms of Dextre robots manufactured by Canada .

Earlier, during the first space walk made on May 20, Endeavor astronauts also installed the ISS with new antennas for wireless telecommunications systems and power cables.

On May 21, ISS astronauts also talked about interesting space with Pope Benedict XVI through video chat. In his first conversation with these astronauts, the Pope said he admired the astronauts' courage, and described their work as " an adventure to discover human origin." species".

It is known that the Endeavor vessel in its final mission before the expiry date, carrying a crew of six, came to connect with the ISS on May 18. Earlier, the ship was launched into space at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida (USA) on May 16.

Ship Endeavor viewed from ISS - Photo: Reuters

Six crew members with the STS-134 number of five Americans and one Italian are: commander Mark Kelly - husband of politician Gabrielle Giffords, who was injured in the shooting in Tucson, Arizona earlier this year. now, pilot Gregory Johnson, astronauts Michael Fincke, Greg Chamitoff, Andrew Feustel and astronaut from the European Space Agency (ESA) Roberto Vittori.

The main task of a 16-day flight with four walks outside this space is to bring a spectrometer from AMS (Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer) to space to study antimatter and dark matter; at the same time replace and repair the cooling equipment, antennas and robotic arms of the station .

International Space Station seen from Endeavor - Photo: Reuters

After the mission of Endeavor, NASA will also make the Atlantis last flight in early July to formally close its 30-year shuttle program with more than 130 flights. Meanwhile, the introduction of astronauts on NASA space station will depend entirely on the Russian Soyuz fleet until they "unveil" the new generation spacecraft.