CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A spacewalking astronaut ran into trouble Sunday while trying to lubricate a joint in the life-sustaining solar power system of the International Space Station. He lost one bolt and got a washer stuck in a crevice.
Mission Control told veteran space flier Mike Fincke that he'd have to settle for a partial lube job, after the bolts holding down covers on the joint started popping off unexpectedly.
The spacewalk — the second of shuttle Endeavour's final space station visit — started out well, with Fincke and his spacewalking partner, Andrew Feustel, topping off a leaky radiator line. They successfully added ammonia to the space station's coolant system, after rerouting jumper cables and opening valves.
This is NASA's next-to-last space shuttle mission.
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