Spacewalkers dispatched to prepare Japanese lab

03/06/2008 21:36

By Irene Klotz

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A pair of spacewalking astronauts left the International Space Station on Tuesday to retrieve a critical inspection boom needed to check shuttle Discovery for damage and to prepare Japan’s new research lab for installation on the orbital outpost.

After camping out in the station’s airlock overnight to prepare their bodies for the outing, veteran spacewalker Michael Fossum and his rookie partner Ronald Garan floated into open space at about 11:30 a.m. CDT (5:30 p.m. British time) as the station sailed 210 miles over southeast Asia.

The spacewalkers were about an hour late getting started due to a problem with communications equipment.

"All right boys, it’s time to rock and roll," said Discovery astronaut Ken Ham as Fossum and Garan were finally ready to begin the planned 6.5-hour spacewalk.

The primary goal of Discovery’s mission, which began on Saturday with liftoff from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, is to deliver Japan’s $1 billion (509 million pound) Kibo laboratory, the cornerstone of that country’s 20-year effort to join in as a permanent player in human space exploration and research.

"It’s going to be a really big day for Japan," said space station flight director Emily Nelson.

At 37 feet long and just over 14 feet wide, Kibo, .....continued below

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which means "hope", is so big that Discovery didn’t have room in its cargo bay for its inspection boom, a piece of equipment that doubles the length of the shuttle’s 50-foot robot arm so that cameras and sensors can inspect the ship’s wings and nosecap for damage.

The boom was part of NASA’s safety upgrades following the fatal 2003 Columbia accident, which was triggered by damage from a debris impact.

The last shuttle crew to visit the space station left its boom behind, temporarily stashed alongside a segment of the station’s external framework, for the Discovery astronauts to use and return to Earth.

Fossum and Garan plan to remove protective covers from the boom’s laser and camera and disconnect cables so it can be returned to the shuttle for an inspection later in the mission. Discovery is scheduled to spend 14 days in orbit.

LAB TO BE ATTACHED

Later in the day, astronauts Akihiko Hoshide and Karen Nyberg, working from inside the station, will use the station’s robot arm to pluck the 16-ton Kibo lab from the shuttle’s cargo bay and attach it to the Harmony module, which serves as a connecting node for several station components.

Fossum and Garan also were scheduled to inspect a damaged metal ring needed to pivot a pair of the station’s solar wing panels to track the sun for power.

Engineers last year discovered the rotary joint was using more power than expected and sent a pair of astronauts outside to investigate. They found widespread contamination of the main metal ring, which should be completely smooth.

Fossum and Garan will use a tool similar to a dentist’s pick to try to scrape the debris away and then wipe the area with a light lubricant to see if they can clean the ring up a bit. If the technique works, NASA intends to have its next shuttle servicing crew attempt a full cleanup.

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