NASA astronauts set for last spacewalk of 2015

‘That was pretty easy, ‘ Commander Kelly said, according to a live broadcast of the spacewalk on Nasa TV.

Engineers believe a stuck brake handle is to blame.

Astronauts Tim Kopra and Scott Kelly, who is now in the ninth month of his year-long stay aboard the ISS, donned their spacesuits and headed out into the vacuum of space in order to make repairs following an unexpected fault.

Monday’s spacewalk was the seventh one this year, but operated under significantly less planning than normal.

The emergency spacewalk was necessary because of a stalled mobile transporter rail vehicle – used to position the station’s robotic arm.

Two American astronauts will step out on a short spacewalk Monday to move a stalled rail vehicle that is stuck outside the International Space Station, NASA said.

Astronauts had to guide the a rail vehicle just four inches back into place after releasing the brake handle, and then latch it back to its rightful spot.

It was fully latched back into place at 8:35 am (1335 GMT), just 50 minutes after the spacewalk began.

If they hadn’t fixed the problem, a Russian Progress cargo ship carrying almost three tons of food and supplies would not be able to dock as scheduled on Wednesday.

With their primary objective completed well ahead of schedule, the spacewalkers proceeded to route a series of cables that will support a docking port for future commercial crew capsules and retrieved tools for future use.

The spacewalk was planned for three hours, and the astronauts planned to take care of a few other tasks if time permits.

The spacewalk was Kelly’s third since he began a yearlong mission in March, and the second of Kopra’s career. Kopra arrived Tuesday, launching from Kazakhstan with Russian and British colleagues.