The third scheduled spacewalk for NASA’s mission on the International Space Station was completed as planned without any incidents. This was considered the hardest and longest of the assignments and there was a bit of tension at the control center and also on the ISS, because so far certain situations occured that delayed the scheduled tasks. One of the major problems involves the new recycling system, which turned down unexpectedly for three days in a row.

The crew was supposed to collect recycled urine samples in roder for the researchers in NASA’s labs to determine whether the system is safe and can be used without any fears. So far, the sample collection was impossible. One of the possible flaws could be related to the centrifuge’s vibration minimizer system, and this is why station commander Michael Fincke received the suggestion from NASA’s flight controllers to remove the isolation mounts.

The spacewalk was all about fixing the clogged solar wing-rotating joint which has been malfunctioning for more than a year. The tasks demanded seven hours and even though the work was not completed, the fourth spacewalk will put the finishing touches.

The space station’s crew will grow from three residents to six in 2009 and this is why the ISS received new pieces of equipment.

After the successful spacewalk, Endeavour crew members got some off duty time on Sunday. They’ll continue the shuttle-station transfer of equipment and supplies and get ready for Monday’s Spacewalk.

Endeavour crew members and the station crew  got their wakeup music at 9:05 a.m. EST. The wakeup music this morning was Frankie Valli's “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You,” played for Ferguson.

At 12:55 p.m. EST, International Space Station Expedition 18 Commander Mike Fincke will undertake a procedure that engineers hope will correct an issue with the station's new Urine Processor Assembly (UPA).

Engineers believe that removing the vibration-dampening "isolators" from the UPA's distillation assembly will prevent the centrifuge inside the assembly from contacting a speed sensor and repeatedly causing the UPA to shut down.