Riding a robotic arm 210 miles above the Earth, NASA astronauts successfully completed their first spacewalk of the 11-day mission that launched earlier this week.

Astronauts Mike Foreman and Robert L. Satcher, Jr. spent six hours and 37 minutes outside the space shuttle Atlantis, which is docked with the International Space Station. They installed a spare S-band antenna structural assembly to the station’s truss, or backbone, while also replacing a handrail, troubleshooting cable connections and lubricating one of the station’s robotic arms.

This mission was designed to move more than 27,000 pounds of equipment and spare parts to the space station before the space shuttle fleet — NASA’s heavy lifters — are retired.

The equipment being delivered during this mission is considered critical to the operation of the space station, according to NASA. At this point, there are only six flights left for the space shuttle fleet before it’s scheduled to be retired.

The equipment that needs to go up is being delivered in order of highest priority. Since this is the first mission to deliver what scientists hope will turn into a trove of spare parts, they’re taking up the most important pieces.

The parts being delivered include two pump modules, two gyroscopes, two nitrogen tank assemblies, an ammonia tank assembly and a high-pressure gas tank. Parts going up for the robotic systems onboard the station include a latching end effector for the station’s robotic arm and a trailing umbilical system reel assembly for the railroad cart that allows the arm to move along the station’s truss system.

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Airmen aboard C-17 Globemaster IIIs from Hickam AFB transported dolphins from the Navy Marine Mammals Program in San Diego, Calif., to Noumea, New Caledonia, Nov. 8 to locate and dispose of more than 200 contact mines that were leftover from World War II.

The active-duty and Reserve C-17 aircrew from Hickam AFB helped deliver the dolphins for Lagoon Minex 2009, a humanitarian project in which U.S. forces along with French, Australian and New Zealand military will work together Nov. 9 to 20 to locate and dispose of the World War II mines.

The dolphins are integral to the exercise because of their biological sonar capabilities. They are used for underwater surveillance and mine detection, location, marking and recovery.

The organizers of the exercise couldn’t afford to transport the animals to New Caledonia. Assistance arrived with the cooperation of a C-17 crew from the 535th Airlift Squadron here and a Reserve C-17 crew from the 452nd Air Mobility Wing from March Air Reserve Base, Calif. Through current projects and training missions, a plan was put into action to get the dolphins moved.

The nine-person crew from Hickam AFB said they were happy to do their part in this worthwhile exercise.

Airmen from McChord Air Force Base, Wash., will take the mammals back to San Diego at the end of the exercise.

Dolphins are not the typical cargo for a C-17.

A U.S.-flagged ship that played a central role in a hijacking last spring was attacked again Wednesday in the waters off the east coast of Africa.

It was the first time a security team aboard a major merchant ship repelled a pirate attack, a top U.S Navy officer said.

The Maersk Alabama came under automatic weapons fire from pirates about 350 nautical miles east of the Somali coast, the European Union’s anti-piracy force said, but fought the attackers off.

No casualties were reported on the ship, but pirates on land in Somalia feared the pirates who attacked the Maersck Alabama may have been killed or wounded, or may have drowned.

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The U.S. Air Force had its safest flying year in its history, with only 17 Class A (costing a million dollars or more) accidents (and eight destroyed aircraft) in 2009 (which ended in September.) The next safest year was 2006, with 19 accidents (and eight destroyed aircraft). Last year there were fifteen destroyed aircraft. The air force attributes this improved safety record to more crew training, and insisting that crews operate by the book and adhere to procedures. This includes pre-flight planning as well as when in the air.

The B-52 Stratofortress has one of the lowest accident rates (less than 1.5 per 100,000 flying hours). The more recent heavy bomber, the Lancer B-1, has a rate of 3.48. Thus the B-52, despite its age, was the cheapest, safest and most reliable way to deliver smart bombs.

New aircraft always have higher accident rates, which is how many hidden (from the design engineers and test pilots) flaws and technical problems. The F-22 Raptor is expected to eventually have an accident rate of 2-3 per 100,000 flight hours. Combat aircraft are becoming more reliable, even as they become more complex. For example, in the early 1950s, the F-89 fighter had 383 accidents per 100,000 flying hours. A decade later, the rate was in the 20s for a new generation of aircraft. At the time, the F-4, which served into the 1990s, had a rate of under 5 per 100,000 hours.

Unmanned aircraft have a much higher rate, which is largely the result of not having a pilot on board. The RQ-1 Predator has an accident rate of about 30 per 100,000 hours. Older model UAVs had much higher rates (up to 363 for the RQ-2A).