Astronauts set to put giant lab in space station

Source: Agencies  |   2008-6-4  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

SHUTTLE Discovery's astronauts prepared for the first spacewalk of their mission yesterday and the installation of Japan's giant lab to the international space station.

During a scheduled 6-1/2-hour spacewalk, astronauts Michael Fossum and Ronald Garan Jr will prepare the US$1 billion lab named Kibo ?? Japanese for hope ?? for installation by removing power and heating cables and various restraints that connect it to the shuttle. Later in the day, astronauts working from inside will use the space station's robot arm to lift the bus-sized lab from the shuttle and anchor it to the station.

"We're looking forward to a great day, an exciting day to install the Japanese Kibo module," said Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, who will help move the lab.

Kibo, at 11 meters long, is bigger than the United States and European labs already attached to the space station.

The spacewalkers will also remove a 15-meter inspection boom from the orbiting complex and try out some cleaning methods on a jammed solar rotating joint that has hampered energy production at the space station since last fall. The joint enables the space station's solar arrays, which provide electrical power, to rotate and track the sun.

"It's going to lead to a really busy day for all of those guys," said Emily Nelson, a space station flight director.

The first job for the spacewalk will be transferring the boom from the space station to the shuttle. The laser-equipped boom is usually attached to the shuttle's robotic arm and used to conduct a detailed inspection of the spacecraft's wings and nose.

The inspection is one of the safety measures put in place by NASA after the 2003 Columbia accident to check for launch damage. Columbia broke apart during re-entry into the atmosphere, killing its seven astronauts, because the shuttle was damaged at launch. Discovery didn't have enough room for the inspection boom, so the last shuttle crew left one behind at the space station in March.