14 DAY TRIAL // The spacewalk ended earlier than scheduled for ISS Expedition 11. Commander Sergei Krikalev and flight engineer John Phillips were ordered back inside the station by Russian flight controllers after completing all but one of their tasks.
They have fallen 45 minutes behind schedule, but the Russian controllers say that was caused by lack of consumables and time. But as they put it, "there is no margin", considering that the next cargo ship is to be expected next year.
The two astronauts are a little disappointed: "Well, it's a pity, we had it planned, I think we could have done it", as Krikalev stated. But they have to obey the controllers decision.
On the other side, the action proved to be quite satisfying. They retrieved several material exposure experiments from the exterior of the station's Zvezda service module, including a nearly life-size torso filled with radiation sensors and the equivalent of human tissue, named Matryoshka after the Russian dolls.
Matryoshka's duty is to measure the effects of the space radiations environment on the human body for future exploration missions to the moon and Mars.
The two astronauts had also to attach a backup camera at the docking port of Zvezda. The camera will assist in docking operations for the Automated Transfer Vehicle, the cargo ship developed to haul food, supplies and equipment to ISS.
The first ATV, called Jules Verne, will launch toward the station in 2006, as NASA stated.
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