Astronauts prepare for fourth spacewalk, to test tile caulking

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The astronauts aboard the linked shuttle and station rested up Wednesday for the fourth spacewalk of their mission, a caulking gun and goo test.

Two of the crew will float outside tonight to squirt salmon-colored goo into the crevices of extra space shuttle thermal tiles that were deliberately damaged for the test. NASA wants to see how well the caulking gun and patching material work.

The tools were developed in the wake of the 2003 Columbia disaster. The shuttle was destroyed and all seven astronauts were killed during re-entry because of a hole in the wing.

During today’s spacewalk, astronauts Michael Foreman and Robert Behnken will work on sample tiles that were carried up in Endeavour’s payload bay.

The astronauts have put together the space station’s new Canadian robot, Dextre, and installed a storage compartment for Japan’s enormous Kibo lab in May.