ROUNDUP Astronauts install new room on International Space Station

Washington- Astronauts installed a new room on the International Space Station (ISS) Friday in a more than six-hour spacewalk and robotic effort. The Italian-made Tranquility node was attached to the outside of the station during the six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk that ended at 0849 GMT Friday.

Spacewalking astronauts Bob Behnken and Nicholas Patrick first prepared Tranquility to be removed from the space shuttle Endeavor's storage area, before astronauts Terry Virts and Kay Hire inside the ISS could maneuver a robotic arm to lift it out and attach it to the outside of the station.

The spacewalkers then connected cables between Tranquility and the ISS, making the orbiting space lab 90-per-cent complete. The hatch between Tranquility and the rest of the ISS will be opened early Saturday.

It will provide ISS's permanent crew with more space and house life support and environmental control systems, a treadmill and other equipment.

Perhaps the most anticipated part of Tranquility is the cupola that it will attach to the station. The six-windowed space will allow astronauts to operate robotic controls and get a 360-degree view, like a crane operator sitting in a cabin.

It is the largest window ever flown into space and is made of specially equipped glass that protects crew from solar radiation. The view will allow scientific observations and provide long-term astronauts with a much-need glimpse of home.

Two later spacewalks will complete Tranquility's hook-up with the station and get it fully functional, with the next set for 0209 GMT Sunday.

Since arriving Wednesday at the ISS, the Endeavor crew has done further repair work on a faulty piece of equipment designed to turn urine into drinkable water. The equipment has frequently malfunctioned, and several recent shuttle flights have delivered replacement parts.

ISS flight director Mike Lammers said Thursday that the repairs appeared to have solved the problem, but more tests were needed before astronauts could resume using the filter.

NASA said it had found a rip in a tile of Endeavor's heat shield and a protruding ceramic ring on the cockpit in a safety inspection of the shuttle.

US space agency experts are analyzing the issues, but further inspection would likely not be necessary. Since the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated on re-entry in 2003 due to a problem with its heat shield, NASA has conducted thorough investigations of each shuttle after take-off.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/308862,roundup-astronauts-install-new-room-on-international-space-station.html.