Mar 11 2001
From The Space Library
Astronauts James S. Voss and Susan J. Helms conducted the longest spacewalk in NASA history~ nearly 9 hours. After working to install hardware and equipment, the pair had to remain outside the ISS until NASA flight controllers had determined that the Italian module filled with supplies had found an ISS docking port. Voss and Helms spent 8 hours and 56 minutes on their spacewalk, eclipsing the record of 8 hours and 29 minutes set in 1992. The U.S astronauts conducted complex work, involving a series of slow, deliberate maneuvers. NASA’s flight director commented that the lengthy endeavor required stamina, remarking that the spacewalk pushed the two astronauts “right to the edge” of what they could handle. Early in the spacewalk, Voss and Helms each mishandled pieces of equipment, causing one device to float off into space and slowing the process by about 1 hour. (Marcia Dunn for Associated Press, “A Record Job, with Some Butterfingers,” 13 March 2001; CNN.com, “Astronauts Set Out-of-This-World Record,” http://archives.cnn.com/2001/TECH/space/03/11/space.shuttle.02/ (accessed 18 July 2008); Associated Press, “2 Astronauts Walk in Space Almost 9 Hours,” 12 March 2001; Agence France-Presse, “Discovery Astronauts End Marathon Spacewalk To Add Leonardo to ISS Canvas,” 12 March 2001.)
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