410p 11/24 Update: Starboard SARJ maintenance complete

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CBS NEWS STS-126 STATUS REPORT: 65
Posted: 4:10 PM, 11/24/08

By William Harwood
CBS News Space Analyst

Changes and additions:

   SR-63 (11/24/08): Spacewalk begins
   SR-64 (11/24/08): Inspection of port SARJ shows signs of wear on bearing race
   SR-65 (11/24/08): Starboard SARJ work complete; port SARJ lubrication now half done

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4:10 PM, 11/24/08, Update: Starboard SARJ work complete

Two-and-a-half hours into today's spacewalk, astronaut Stephen Bowen has installed a final bearing assembly in the space station's starboard solar array rotary joint mechanism and finished cleaning and lubricating a final 30-degree section of its bearing races.

"FInally!" Bowen exclaimed as flight controllers burst into applause.

"Thanks for your work," communicator Terry Virts replied from Houston.

"You're welcome, any time," Bowen said. "Although never on the SARJ again, I hope."

After returning tools and equipment to the station's Quest airlock module, Bowen  plans to make he way forward to the Japanese Kibo lab module to manually retract a berthing latch that will be used next year for attachment of an external experiment platform. He will then re-install thermal covers and attach GPS antennas needed for the docking of a Japanese cargo ship next year.

Fellow spacewalker Robert "Shane" Kimbrough, meanwhile, is working to install an external television camera. He earlier lubricated one half of the station's port-side SARJ drive gear. After the TV camera is attached to the downward-facing side of the port 1 solar array truss segment, he will head back to the port SARJ to complete the lube job.

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Quick-Launch Web Links:

CBS News STS-126 Status Reports:
http://www.cbsnews.com/network/news/space/current.html

CBS News STS-126 Quick-Look Page:
http://www.cbsnews.com/network/news/space/currentglance.html

NASA ISS Expeditions Page:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/index.html

NASA Shuttle Web: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/index.html
NASA Station Web: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/index.html
Spaceflight Now: http://spaceflightnow.com/index.html
GoogleSatTrack: http://www.lizard-tail.com/isana/tracking/

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