MOSCOW, August 1 (RIA Novosti) - NASA ordered Discovery astronauts Steve Robinson and Soichi Noguchi, who were conducting a spacewalk Monday, to clean the outer surface of the International Space Station (ISS), a NASA expert said.
The expert said that after putting up the power gyroscope, which is an instrument designed to maintain the station's position relative to Earth, Robinson and Noguchi were doing minor but important things, such as cleaning the outer surface of the ISS. For example, the expert said the astronauts had been ordered to detach the straps that previous astronauts had used to conduct spacewalks. In addition, Robinson and Noguchi were to remove a special mini-platform that helped them move around off the Canadarm manipulator arm.
The spacewalk was expected to end by 7.00 p.m. Moscow time (3.00 p.m. GMT).
