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US Astronauts Step Out On Spacewalk For Repairs

Astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Steve Swanson climbed out of the space station without incident starting at 9:56 am.

Via AFP:

Two US astronauts stepped out on a brief spacewalk Wednesday to install a backup computer at the International Space Station after one failed earlier this month.

Astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Steve Swanson climbed out of the space station without incident starting at 9:56 am (1356 GMT), about a half hour behind schedule. The spacewalk was expected to last 2.5 hours.

The computer they will remove and replace is known as a multiplexer/demultiplexer (MDM), one of 45 aboard the orbiting laboratory.

The 10-year-old MDM failed after a routine restart operation on April 11.

NASA said th...

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