Space lab becomes a play area

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

ASTRONAUTS opened up Japan's new billion-dollar space station lab, then got ready for another spacewalk, this time to spruce up the outside of the huge addition.

Crewmen Mike Fossum and Ronald Garan were headed back outside yesteday for the second time in three days. Their objective: to set up TV cameras on the Kibo lab and remove covers from its robot arm, and do some advance work for a nitrogen-gas tank replacement scheduled for their third and final spacewalk this weekend.

The door to Kibo ?? Japanese for hope ?? was swung open on Wednesday, a day after its installation at the international space station.

It was a momentous occasion for Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, who hung a banner over the threshold and led the procession inside.

Hoshide noted that Kibo was empty, for now, but quoted an engineer back on Earth who told him: "It looks really empty but it's full of dreams."

The 10 inhabitants of the linked shuttle Discovery and space station took advantage of all the empty space inside the bus-size lab and twirled, performed back flips and bounced on the walls. Then they started hauling in racks for science experiments.

Flight director Annette Hasbrook described Kibo as "stunning" and said it was "just an amazing sight" to see it up and running.

At 11 meters in length, Kibo is the largest of the nine rooms now at the space station.