Astronauts make 3rd and final spacewalk of mission

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Two shuttle astronauts took one last spacewalk at the International Space Station on Friday to finish replacing old batteries and tackle some odd jobs as their visit drew to a close.

Garrett Reisman and Michael Good were eager to get started on the third spacewalk in five days for the Atlantis crew. As the pressure slowly dropped in the air lock, Reisman commented: “It’s like standing on your bathroom scale and waiting for the needle to go down.”

Within a half-hour, the spacewalkers had plugged in a new jumper cable on the station’s sprawling framework. Their next stop was the nest of batteries on the far left side.

Reisman and Good had two fresh batteries to install. Good and another astronaut put in four during Wednesday’s spacewalk.

Each battery is about the size of a 3-foot box and weighs 375 pounds.