This story was updated at 11:59 a.m. ET.
HOUSTON – Two spacewalking astronauts
worked through the night high above the Earth to install Japan's first orbital room and attach hands to a two-armed robot named Dextre.
International
Space Station (ISS) flight engineer Garrett Reisman and mission specialist Rick
Linnehan, a member of the STS-123 space shuttle Endeavour crew, spent more than
seven hours outside of the space station to complete their on-orbit
construction work. With astronaut Takao Doi at the controls of the shuttle's
robotic arm, their efforts left the Japanese
Logistics Pressurized module (JLP) securely latched onto the station.
"Takao
shows once again that he is the man," said Dominic Gorie, commander of the
STS-123 mission, who assisted Doi from Endeavour's flight deck. Doi, a Japan
Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut, is slated to open up the
station's newest room Friday evening and complete the space station program's
15-nation partnership on orbit.
Gorie and
his crew are slated to perform at least four more spacewalks during the longest
station-bound shuttle mission NASA has ever attempted. In addition to Doi,
Gorie worked with shuttle mission specialists Bob Behnken and Leopold Eyharts
to support the spacewalker's efforts.
Linnehan
and Reisman's spacewalk started Thursday at 9:18 p.m. EDT (0118 GMT March 14)
and wrapped up Friday morning at 4:19 a.m. EDT (0819 GMT). The excursion was
Reisman's first and Linnehan's fourth, giving the veteran spaceflyer 28 hours
22 minutes of total spacewalking time.
New
orbital room
Shortly
after Linnehan and Reisman left the station's Quest airlock Thursday night,
they crawled across the ISS toward Endeavour's payload bay.
The
spacewalking duo unplugged cables and removed protective covers from the
9.2-ton module — the first piece of Japan's Kibo massive three-part laboratory
— making quick work of readying the cylindrical
closet, as Reisman has called it, for installation. As the spacewalkers
finished configuring the room, they witnessed an orbital sunrise.
"Good
work guys, sun's coming up," Mike Foreman, spacewalk choreographer and
STS-123 mission specialist, told his colleagues as the sun crept over the
Earth. "Check your visors."
Doi and
Gorie then grappled the JLP with Endeavour's robotic arm, twisting and turning
the module into place several hours later to the top of the Harmony node Friday
at 4:06 a.m. EDT (0706 GMT).
"Grapple
confirmed," mission controllers here at Johnson Space Center said as Behnken and Eyharts secured the JLP into place.
Helping
hands
Leaving the
Japanese module in shape for installation, Linnehan and Reisman moved to the
pallet containing the pieces
of Dextre on the Port-1 truss of the space station.
The two
astronauts unwrapped the 115-pound (52-kilogram) "hands" of the
robot, known as orbital tool changeout mechanisms, and worked during the next
four hours to bolt them onto the automaton's 662-pound (300-kilogram) arms.
In a
briefing after the spacewalk, mission managers here at Johnson Space Center
said a problem with supplying power to Dextre's pallet is likely caused by a faulty
"keep alive" cable that warms vital electronics. Pierre Jean, acting
program manager for the Canadian space station program, said grappling the
robot's "head" with the space station robotic arm Friday evening
should give it power and prove his team's hypothesis.
"We're
pretty confident that 10 o'clock tonight we should have the answer to this
particular [problem]," Jean said.
During
their orbital work, Linnehan and Reisman pointed out spectacular views of Earth
below — atolls in the Indian Ocean, Madagascar, and Chicago's night lights
included.
"Don't
look down, but over you're left shoulder is New York," Reisman told
Linnehan as they attached Dextre's hands. "You can make out Long Island sound, and you can see the whole thing at night. It's amazing."
After the
astronauts finished their work and secured themselves in the safety of the
airlock, spacecraft communicator Nick Patrick congratulated Doi and
"Dom" Gorie on their robotic arm work.
"Great
job to all of you on the flight deck today," Patrick said.
"Thank
you very much Nick," Doi responded. "Dom and I had a great
time."
Shuttle Endeavour launched
from Kennedy Space Center early Tuesday morning and
docked at the space station Wednesday night. Mission managers expect to see
the 100-ton orbiter and its seven-astronaut crew on the ground March 26 around
8:33 p.m. EDT (0013 GMT March 27).
NASA is broadcasting
Endeavour's STS-123 mission live on NASA TV. Click here for SPACE.com's
shuttle mission coverage and NASA TV feed.
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