The Endeavour Space Shuttle has been stationed at the International Space Station for two weeks, and will start heading back to Earth in Thanksgiving Day. So far, the astronauts have performed three spacewalks, and today they are preparing for their fourth and final spacewalk. During this final spacewalk, astronauts Stephen Bowen and Robert “Shane” Kimbrough plan to fix a jammed joint that held a solar wing facing the sun. The solar wing was used to generate power, and the joint was jammed because it hadn’t been used often since September 2007. It was working poorly because parts of it kept shaving metal shards off, which then jammed it entirely, thus limiting the amount of energy it could produce.

The increased power that will be generated will allow up to six permanent residents on the International Space Station, as opposed to the current possible number of three. Also, the astronauts were also in charge of getting a urine-and-sweat-to-water converter working. The also had to lubricate other joints of the station and clean the station itself. Additional tasks implied installing a video camera, a spacewalk handrail and even a GPS antenna. On top of all that, the astronauts also had to take photos of all the equipment.

The urine processor worked for about two hours at a time, and after an adjustment, kept running for a total of 3 and a half hours. However, in order to complete the conversion, it has to run for 4 hours straight. One of the astronauts, Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper lost a $100,000 tool kit which basically just floated away from her during the first spacewalk.