Astronauts take 2nd spacewalk for cable and lube job

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA astronauts ventured back outside the International Space Station today for more cable work and a lube job.

It was the second spacewalk in five days for Butch Wilmore and Terry Virts. In all, three spacewalks are planned in just over a week to prepare the orbiting lab for future American crew capsules.

Wilmore and Virts installed two more power and data cables, for a two-day total of 364 feet. They unreeled the first eight cables Saturday.

Next up, for Virts, was the lubrication of the latches and brackets on the end of the space station's giant robot arm. The snares have gotten a bit creaky over the past year, according to NASA.

Wilmore, the space station's commander, took a moment to savor the view. "I don't think I've seen blue that blue," he observed as the complex soared 260 miles above the Caribbean.

By the end of their third spacewalk scheduled for Sunday, the astronauts will have routed 764 feet of cable on the station's exterior. NASA considers it the most complicated cable job ever at the 16-year-old orbiting outpost.