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Third spacewalk termed successful

HOUSTON, July 13 (UPI) -- NASA says the space shuttle Discovery astronauts gathered valuable data Wednesday during their third spacewalk of the current mission.

The spacewalk was part of an ongoing evaluation of repairing a damaged orbiter.

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Mission Specialists Piers Sellers and Mike Fossum prepared a foot restraint on the end of the International Space Station's Canadarm2. Sellers rode the arm, commanded by Mission Specialists Lisa Nowak and Stephanie Wilson, to the starboard wing of Discovery. He then used an infrared camera to shoot 20 seconds of video of selected reinforced carbon carbon panels on the wing's leading edge.

NASA said the infrared imagery is expected to aid in identifying damage on the inside of those RCC panels.

Fossum then prepared for the EVA's primary task of testing a repair material known as NOAX -- non-oxide adhesive experimental. The preceramic polymer is being evaluated for repairing damage to the RCC panels.

Sellers and Fossum completed three gouge repairs and two crack repairs with NOAX, providing NASA Mission Control in Houston with a running dialogue describing the repair activity.

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NASA said the spacewalk was a 7-hour, 11-minute event and the 68th in support of ISS assembly and maintenance.

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