Mission Status Center

After successfully hooking up ammonia coolant lines to the new Tranquility module, astronauts Robert Behnken and Nicholas Patrick returned to the space station's Quest airlock to check for contamination while flight controllers finished powering up the module's electrical systems.

Despite the release of a small amount of ammonia early in the mission, Patrick's suit was not contaminated and Flight Director Bob Dempsey said engineers successfully powered up the new module, a major milestone for the shuttle Endeavour's mission.

Read our full story.

The ammonia checks in the airlock have been performed with no contamination registered.

EVA ENDS. Repressurization of the Quest airlock module began at 3:14 a.m. EST, marking the official end of today's spacewalk by Bob Behnken and Nick Patrick. The EVA lasted five hours and 54 minutes.

This was the second of three spacewalks planned for Endeavour's mission to the space station. The total time accumulated by the EVAs amounts to 12 hours and 26 minutes.

The final excursion is planned for Tuesday night to finish the ammonia plumbing, unwrap the thermal covers over the cupola, unlock its window shutters and run an external fiber optic cable between the U.S. and Russian segments of the station.

The spacewalkers are inside the airlock and going through precautionary ammonia decontamination procedures just to make sure they don't bring any of the coolant inside the living space of the station.

The astronauts are back at the airlock to stow their tools and equipment as this successful EVA begins to wind down.

Continued work outside is focusing on installing some additional handrails on Tranquility that couldn't be launched in position due to the tight confines of Endeavour's payload bay.

Mission Control reports that Tranquility's cooling is working and steps to bring the module's electronics to life is getting underway.

Meanwhile, Bob Behnken is placing thermal covers on the keel pin and four trunnion structures on Tranquility that held the module in the space shuttle's payload bay.

Nick Patrick is working on cupola to install a non-propulsive valve that enables it to be vented to vacuum for removal and relocation.

Spacewalker Bob Behnken is over at the nadir berthing port of Tranquility where he just opened the flaps for that mechanism to receive the cupola when it is relocated robotically Sunday night.

Endeavour astronaut Nick Patrick working outside the International Space Station has opened external valves to begin flowing ammonia coolant to the Tranquility module.

Two of the four cooling lines are now active. The other pair will be brought online during the next spacewalk.

Tranquility's integration into the station's cooling system will allow the new module's systems to be started up and full internal outfitting performed.

Space station controllers have safed the outpost's external thermal control system, clearing the way for the spacewalkers to activate the new cooling lines.

The spacewalkers have gotten the lines routed and connected. They're wrapping thermal insulating blankets around the cabling to protect them from the temperature swings of life in orbit.

Behnken reports not seeing any evidence of ammonia contamination on Patrick's suit or helmet. He was looking for any waxy or dull white coating indicative of ammonia.

Bob Behnken has gotten the other two lines connected to Tranquility. He's now going to go over to Nick Patrick at Destiny to inspect his spacesuit for any signs of ammonia contamination. Patrick had noted seeing a few flakes of ammonia float away when opening one of the cooling ports on the laboratory module earlier.

Passing the two-and-a-half hour mark. Only two of the lines will be activated tonight to flow ammonia to Tranquility. The other pair get turned on during EVA 3.

The spacewalk is progressing smoothly. The duo has begun work on plumbing the second set of cooling lines.

The first pair of lines have been uncoiled and installed to connect Tranquility into the space station's cooling system.

Working on the Destiny lab, spacewalker Nick Patrick is attaching the ammonia lines to the connection ports there. Bob Behnken is over at Tranquility to install the cooling jumpers to the new module.

Routing ammonia cooling lines from the Destiny laboratory to the Tranquility module is the main objective of this EVA. The task is getting underway by unwrapping a large Y-shaped thermal blanket where these long hoses will be unreeled to reside on the station's hull.

Both spacewalkers have floated outside for the start of this 6.5-hour EVA.

EVA BEGINS. The spacewalkers switched their suits to internal battery power at 9:20 p.m. EST, marking the official start time for today's EVA by Bob Behnken and Nick Patrick. This is the second of three spacewalks planned during Endeavour's mission to activate Tranquility.

Airlock depressurization has begun.

With the help of their fellow astronauts, the spacewalkers are moving into the airlock from the suitup compartment in preparation for tonight's EVA.

Astronauts Bob Behnken and Nick Patrick will take a six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk tonight to hook up ammonia coolant lines between the new Tranquility module and the International Space Station. Mission managers, meanwhile, have approved a one-day extension to Endeavour's flight to give the astronauts more time to move life support system racks and exercise gear into the new module.

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MISSION EXTENDED. Shuttle Endeavour's crew will get to take advantage of the flight extension day available to them. The additional day enables the astronauts to stay at the space station and finish getting the newly repaired water recycling gear moved into Tranquility before Endeavour's departure.

The day will be inserted into the mission plan as a new Flight Day 11. Landing at Kennedy Space Center now happens on the night of February 21.

Flight Day 7 has commenced for the astronauts with the 4:15 p.m. EST wakeup call from Mission Control. Tonight's spacewalk by Behnken and Patrick is scheduled to start at 9:09 p.m. EST.

Read our earlier status center coverage.