 This week, astronauts Scott Kelly and Tim Kopra ventured outside the space station as an unexpected malfunction left the mobile transporter hanging unsecured to the station's truss. This is your space pod for December 23, 2015. The mobile transporter is a rail car capable of traversing across the station's truss, the 109 meter long structure that holds the station's iconic solar panels. The mobile transporter carries the mobile servicing system, which contains the station's robotic arm, the Canadarm 2. On Wednesday, December 17th, mission controllers sent a command to the mobile transporter to move along the station's truss, but it stopped unexpectedly only after a few short moments. Additional commands were sent, but the mobile transporter did not move. It was stuck, in a braked position but not latched securely to the station. Spacewalking is difficult and dangerous, so many are planned months to years in advance, and spacewalkers undertake many hours of preparation and practice for each spacewalk. So, for a spacewalk to be necessary under such short notice, the issue must be urgent. To find out more, I asked veteran astronaut and former commander of the International Space Station, Colonel Chris Hadfield. The problem here is that a Russian Progress resupply vehicle was launched on Monday, December 21st, and the unsecured platform could break off and interfere with the docking procedure, especially if the space station's maneuvering thrusters have to be used to assist with the docking procedure. The good news is that the spacewalk was completed successfully in 3 hours and 16 minutes. The problem, a stuck brake handle, was solved in less than an hour. Cobra and Kelly used the remaining time to perform tasks that would have been done on future spacewalks to make the most of their time outside. Kelly installed cabling for an international docking adapter that will allow US commercial crew vehicles to dock to the space station. Cobra routed some cabling that will be eventually connected to a Russian laboratory module. Before heading back inside, the pair grabbed a toolbox that had been previously left out so that its tools can be used in future spacewalks. Unfortunately, this unplanned spacewalk has taken time away from the various research ongoing about the space station, but as always, safety comes first. Thank you for watching and as always, thank you to our patrons who continually support us to bring you these spacefods. These videos are completely crowdfunded through our Patreon campaign. In 2016, you may see less spacefods being released as we cut back to make our campaign more self-sustaining. At the time I'm recording this space pod, we would need an additional $182 per month for our Patreon campaign to continue releasing space pods at the frequency of which we release them now. So if you're willing and able, head over to patreon.com slash space pod and decide how much you would be willing to spend on these space pods per month. And the more patronage we get, the more bang you get for your monthly space pod buck. You'll get more content per month as soon as we hit our next Patreon goal, so why not share our campaign with your family and friends? You'll also find more space pods at youtube.com slash tmro. My name is Lisa Stodzianowski and until next time, keep on discovering.