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With a couple of easy pulls, space shuttle astronaut Steve Robinson solved one of NASA’s biggest problems this morning.
Attached by his feet to a robotic arm, Robinson first removed a small piece of gap filler material that was barely protruding from Discovery’s underside. A few minutes later and a feet feet away, Robinson pulled out the other piece of filler.
Robinson later took pictures from his once-in-a-lifetime vantage point before he and fellow astronaut Soichi Noguchi ended their 6 hour spacewalk. Lead flight director Paul Hill says things are looking good for Discovery’s return to earth on Monday.
Hill is referring to a piece of protective blanket around Commander Eileen Collin’s window that appears to have bunched-up. He says engineers don’t think it would have much effect on the shuttle during re-entry.