Cable guys: Spacewalking astronauts lay 300 feet of wire around space station

Spacewalking astronauts have routed more than 300 feet of cable outside the International Space Station, tricky and tiring advance work for the arrival of new American-made crew capsules. It was the first of three spacewalks planned for NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Terry Virts over the coming week. Altogether, Wilmore and Virts have 764 feet of cable to run outside the space station. They got off to a strong start last night, rigging eight power and data lines, or about 340 feet. The longest single stretch was 43 feet.

I feel great man, I feel good!

Virts noted to Wilmore just over an hour into the spacewalk

NASA considers this the most complicated cable-routing job in the 16-year history of the space station. Equally difficult will be running cable on the inside of the complex. The extensive rewiring is needed to prepare for NASA’s next phase 260 miles up: The 2017 arrival of the first commercial spacecraft capable of transporting astronauts to the orbiting lab.

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