Problems With Second Space Walk

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – Astronauts struggled with stiff bolts while attaching a big new tank full of ammonia coolant to the International Space Station during their second spacewalk in three days to accomplish the job.

Spacewalkers Rick Mastracchio and Clayton Anderson called out directions as a robot arm lifted the 1,700-pound, refrigerator-size storage tank into place. One of the robotic snares got caught on the handling pin for the tank, but quickly was freed.

Then Mastracchio and Anderson had trouble bolting down the new tank on the sprawling framework that serves as the backbone of the space station. They tried using a pry bar on the mechanisms, but that didn’t work. The astronauts advised Mission Control to start coming up with a long-term solution in case the bolts would not cooperate.