CBS Chicago (Dec. 18) -- Illinois' favorite astronaut will strap on a spacesuit and go for a 6-hour walk outside of the International Space Station on Saturday. NASA has ordered up a series of what it termed urgent spacewalks to fix a broken cooling line at the station. Officials decided Tuesday to send former Illini football team captain Mike Hopkins and fellow American astronaut Rick Mastracchio out as soon as possible to replace a pump with a bad valve. Hopkins' first spacewalk is set for this Saturday. Also: News-Gazette (Dec. 18), NBC News (from The Associated Press, Dec. 17), Christian Science Monitor (Dec. 17), NPR (blog, Dec. 17), Space.com (Dec. 17), University Herald (Dec. 18), Long Island Newsday (from the AP, Dec. 17), CBS Miami (from AP, Dec. 17), Alton Daily News (Illinois, Dec. 23). Editor's note: This story has been covered by hundreds of media outlets around the world.
Related article: USA Today (Dec. 24) -- U. of I. alumnus Michael Hopkins and a fellow astronaut have floated outside the International Space Station on Christmas Eve in hopes of finishing urgent cooling system repairs. It’s only the second Christmas Eve spacewalk in NASA history. Also: KMOV-Channel 4 (from The Associated Press; CBS; St. Louis, Dec. 24), WLS-Channel 7 (from AP, Chicago, Dec. 24).