Canadian Astronaut: Record Breaker

Finally some good news about Canada, Canadian Astronaut Dave Williams has set a Canadian first in achieving the most space walks in times and duration.

Let the Americans have "Moonwalker Jackson", we have a Canadian "Space Walker Williams" we can all be proud of.  Which idol would you prefer your child to aspire to?

url="http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/TopStories/ContentPosting.aspx?feedname=CTV-TOPSTORIES_V2&showbyline=True&newsitemid=CTVNews%2f20070817%2fwilliams_spacewalk_070818"]Canadian astronaut Dave Williams set out on his record-breaking third spacewalk on Saturday, the fourth and last spacewalk for the shuttle Endeavour crew.

Canadian Space Agency astronaut Dave Williams stands on the Canadarm2 during a mission on the International Space Station earlier this week as seen in this NASA image.

Canadian Space Agency astronaut Dave Williams stands on the Canadarm2 during a mission on the International Space Station earlier this week as seen in this NASA image.

Williams and U.S. astronaut Clay Anderson embarked on their mission at 10:01 a.m. ET. They will spend 4.5 hours installing a shuttle inspection boom stand to the International Space Station and will secure an antenna mount.

On Friday, Williams described the experience, thus far, as "an amazingly smooth experience."

"The view is very, very hard to describe. Just imagine yourself standing on a platform, you really can't see your feet at all but all around you you've got this panoramic view of the earth beneath you," he told reporters.

Once Williams was in space, he set a Canadian record for the number of spacewalks and hours spent outside the International Space Station.

Williams topped Chris Hadfield's record of two spacewalks. When Williams returns to the station he will have spent roughly 17-and-a-half hours in space, compared to Hadfield's 14 hours and 56 minutes in 2001.

NAS cuts time of walk

NASA shortened the mission by two hours because hurricane Dean could veer toward the Houston home of Mission Control.

Endeavour will now return to Earth a day earlier, and is expected to touch down on Tuesday.

If the monstrous storm does veer toward Houston, mission control would be relocated for a landing at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Cape Canaveral has fewer controllers that could pose a problem for operations, which is why NASA was leaning toward bringing the shuttle home on Tuesday.

Besides shortening Saturday's spacewalk, NASA officials have also postponed routine space station chores.

Mission managers also decided against repairs to a hand-sized gouge on the underbelly of the shuttle Endeavour after experts deemed the shuttle was in a satisfactory condition that would get the astronauts home.

The massive amount of data gathered from hundreds of engineers indicated Endeavour would suffer no serious structural damage during next week's re-entry, but that repairs could put the astronauts at risk.

The only way they could have fixed the gouge was by positioning Williams and another crewmember, armed with black protective paint and caulk-like goo, beneath the shuttle on the end of a 100-foot robotic arm and extension boom.

A piece of debris that broke off the external fuel tank shortly after liftoff on Aug. 8 pierced the thermal shielding on Endeavour's belly.

With files from the Associated Press[/q]