The spacewalk can be viewed live on NASA TV at: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/.

When the Russian Progress M-58 spacecraft docked to the space station in October 26, 2006, its antenna did not properly retract. The spacewalkers will attempt on this spacewalk to secure or remove the antenna to avoid interference with the undocking of Progress M-58 from the space station that is scheduled for April 8, 2007.

It is the fourth flight into space for U.S. astronaut Lopez-Alegria. Previously, he flew onboard three NASA Space Shuttle missions. Besides commander of the ISS, Lopez-Alegria is also acting as NASA’s science officer.

The February 22 spacewalk will be the tenth spacewalk for Lopez-Alegria, and will in all likelihood set new U.S. records for most spacewalking hours—a record currently held by astronaut Jerry Ross at 58 hours, 18 minutes—and most spacewalks—a record currently also held by Ross with nine. Russian cosmonaut Anatoly Solovyov leads the world record with 77 hours, 41 minutes over 16 spacewalks.

Russian cosmonaut Turin, age 46 years, is making his second flight into space. He also served as a member of the Expedition 3 crew to the space station in 2001.

Turin reported at the beginning of the spacewalk that his spacesuit was overheating. He has been advised by mission controllers to slow or halt his activities if heat builds up during the spacewalk.

For additional information on the Expedition crew, go to: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html.

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