In Space: Emergency spacewalk completed

    As the workday began on Dec. 21, astronauts ventured outside the station and fixed a stalled part -- clearing the way for a cargo spacecraft to dock Dec. 23. The problem occurred last week as flight controllers attempted to operate the part from the ground. It had to be relocated before the arrival of a cargo ship.
    Floating some 253 miles above the Earth, astronauts Scott Kelly and Tim Kopra clung to handrails, moved tethers that held them to the station and often looked like flies settled atop the massive spacecraft. All the while, flight controllers on the ground coached, coaxed and armchair quarterbacked in their trademark incomprehensible monotone:
     “OK, we copy that Tim, so the next thing would be a fair lead on the port lab strut handrail with an adjustable.”
    Three hours later, the astronauts had successfully completed the emergency spacewalk, moving the stubborn device. They had also accomplished what the space agency described as get-ahead tasks, including routing cables needed for an adapter that will support commercial crew vehicles.
    A Russian spacecraft, carrying more than 2.8 tons of food, fuel and supplies for the station crew, also launched early Monday from Kazakhstan.
    Since October 2014, three separate unmanned cargo ships -- loaded with food, supplies and experiments -- never made it to the space station. An Orbital Sciences cargo ship exploded after takeoff Oct. 28, 2014. In April of this year, a supply flight operated by the Russian space agency experienced trouble after launch and failed. An unmanned SpaceX supply ship loaded with a docking system and food for the International Space Station exploded approximately two minutes after takeoff June 28.

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     Update: Cargo ship malfunctions

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