Oct. 10 (UPI) -- NASA TV is streaming the second of three October spacewalks on Tuesday morning. Coverage began at 6:30 a.m. EDT.
Two NASA astronauts switched their spacesuits to battery power this morning at 7:56 a.m. EDT aboard the International Space Station to begin a spacewalk planned to last about 6.5 hours," NASA confirmed.
Expedition 53 Commander Randy Bresnik of NASA, who led last week's spacewalk -- the first of three -- was joined by Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei, also of NASA.
For Bresnik, who will also lead the third spacewalk on Oct. 18, Tuesday's mission marked his fourth spacewalk. For Vande Hei, the spacewalk is his second.
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Last week, the duo used their six hours outside the space station to replace one of the two Latching End Effectors on Canadarm2, the space station's robotic arm. One of the effector's mechanical latches stalled last month.
"They also accomplished a couple of get-ahead tasks, including removal of the multi-layer insulation from a spare direct current switching unit," NASA reported after the completion of last week's mission. "They also prepared a flex hose rotary coupler for future use."
The effectors serve as a grappling mechanism, allowing the space station's arm to receive and manipulate visiting cargo vehicles and payloads. The effectors, or LEEs, also field and transmit telemetry data to the rest of the Mobile Base System, or MBS. Canadarm2 is anchored to the MBS and can be moved along the base's truss by the LEEs.
Tuesday's spacewalk is devoted to lubricating the newly installed end effector and replacing cameras on the left side of the station's truss and the right side of the station's U.S. Destiny laboratory.
"A third spacewalk to continue the lubrication of the new end effector and to replace another camera system on the Destiny Lab is planned for Bresnik and Flight Engineer Joe Acaba of NASA Oct. 18," NASA said.
The third spacewalk will also be streamed live by NASA TV.
