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[b]Spacewalkers replace failed backup computer[/b] Astronauts Steve Swanson and Rick Mastracchio stepped outside the International Space Station for a short spacewalk to replace a failed backup computer on Wednesday (April 23). The two began the extravehicular activity (EVA, or spacewalk) at 8:56 a.m. CDT (1356 GMT) and ended the excursion at 10:32 a.m. (1532 GMT) for an elapsed time of one hour and 36 minutes. The computer, known as a multiplexer-demultiplexer (MDM), ceased responding to flight controllers' commands on April 11 after a routine health check by Mission Control in Houston. While the primary MDM continued to function, space station managers ordered Wednesday's spacewalk to ensure redundancy on critical systems. The computer outage did not pose a risk to the six crew members aboard the space station. Swanson and Mastracchio worked on the S0 truss, which is where the backup MDM is mounted. The truss is located above the Destiny laboratory module and forms the center of the station's backbone. The MDM provides telemetry and commands to the truss systems, including the rotary joints for the station's solar arrays and the mobile transporter rail car that rides along the truss structure. The two spacewalkers successfully removed the failed computer from the S0 truss where it has been located since the truss was delivered in April 2002 and installed a spare MDM that was stored inside the Destiny lab since being delivered aboard space shuttle Endeavour in April 2001. The station houses a total 45 MDMs, 24 internally and 21 externally.
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