Playing Dead on 100th Spacewalk
Two astronauts ventured outside on America’s 100th spacewalk, wrapping up work on the international space station’s new science laboratory and taking turns playing dead, officials at Cape Canaveral, Fla., said.
The space shuttle Atlantis spacewalkers, Thomas Jones and Robert Curbeam Jr., conducted NASA’s “dead-guy test,” an emergency drill for dragging an incapacitated astronaut to safety.
It was their third and final spacewalk of the mission, and the 100th time that Americans walked in space. Gemini astronaut Edward White II made NASA’s first spacewalk in 1965. His excursion lasted 21 minutes. The latest outing was 5 1/2 hours long.
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