U.S. and Japanese Astronauts performed the 2nd spacewalk.
On September 5, 2012 astronaut Sunita Williams and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide performed their second spacewalk. They completed the installation of a Main Bus Switching Unit (MBSU) that was hampered last week by a possible misalignment and damaged threads where a bolt must be placed. They also installed a camera on the International Space Station’s robotic arm, Canadarm2.
The spacewalk lasted 6 hours and 28 minutes.
The MBSU is a heavy component that is used to relay power from the station’s solar arrays to its systems.
Sunita Williams surpassed Peggy Whitson during the September 5 excursion for total cumulative spacewalk time by a female astronaut. Whitson worked outside for 39 hours and 46 minutes over the course of six spacewalks. Williams has conducted six spacewalks for a total of 44 hours and 2 minutes.
