Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 32 Flight Engineers Sunita Williams of NASA and Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency conducted a 8 hour, 17 minute spacewalk Aug. 30 to remove an ailing power switching unit from the station's truss and to rig cables for the future arrival of a Russian laboratory module. They failed to install a replacement switching unit, which refused to bolt in place despite repeated attempts. The replacement unit was secured to a handrail on the truss to enable flight controllers and station Program officials to assess a future course of action.

The spacewalk was the 164th in support of space station assembly and maintenance, the fifth for Williams in her career and the first for Hoshide.