International Space Station astronauts Sunita Williams and Akihiko Hoshide were forced to use a toothbrush and elbow grease to fix a "sticky" bolt on the station, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The two astronauts endured over 10 hours in a spacesuit to fix the troublesome bolt affecting solar power at the space station. In her blog, astronaut Williams wrote, "One lesson I learned last time I was up here-you can't get married to a plan. It seems like something you thought was going to be difficult turns out to be easy, and something you thought was going to be easy turns out to be hard."
The bolt forced astronauts to shut down some equipment dealing with the eight solar wings on the station, the Los Angeles Times reported. According to Williams, the bolt connects a box that directs 25 percent of the power going into the station.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the pair was eventually able to find a solution with Mission Control telling them, "Looks like you fixed the problem."
The EVA, or extravehicular activity, lasted over 8 hours and did not allow the two astronauts to go to the bathroom or have lunch, Williams wrote.
However, the long spacewalk did have Williams break the record for time spent spacewalking by a female astronaut, NASA spokesman Josh Byerly confirmed.
Williams commented on the long spacewalk, "Space is busy, active and unkind. It gets really hot and cold outside. There are solar flares (makes nice auroras, but is radiation), solar wind and vacuum. All this does a number on a spacecraft, and on us."
Live Stream of the International Space Station (Provided by NASA):
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