Outside repairs finished, astronauts ready to head inside space station

C. Bryson Hull

Monday, May 22, 2000 | 9:11 a.m.

SPACE CENTER, Houston - Two spacewalking astronauts sped through a first set of urgent repairs to the international space station today, fixing several exterior problems well ahead of schedule.

Astronauts James Voss and Jeffrey Williams finished the first day of work on the 200-mile-high outpost during 6 1/2 hours outside space shuttle Atlantis. With the outside tasks finished, the crew of six Americans and one Russian will crack open the hatch to the space station tonight to begin 3 1/2 days of more repairs inside.

"Look at that space station," marveled Voss as he stepped out of the airlock Sunday night.

Taking care of their first task in minutes, Voss and Williams quickly battened down a loose 5-foot construction crane which was improperly installed by another pair of spacewalkers last year.

Next, the duo tackled the more complex job of assembling and mounting a Russian boom crane, extendable to 50 feet, to the side of the space station. Future crews will use the crane booms to move large items around the outside of the orbiting complex, which NASA hopes will eventually extend the length of a football field. Right now, the station is just 77 feet long.

Williams also replaced a failed antenna with a new one, put in an electrical cable for a TV camera and the two installed eight new handrails.

"This spacewalk was a good example of what future spacewalks are going to look like, where we will need to perform maintenance on the space station," said Scott Bleisath, a spacewalk director for NASA.

Working more than an hour ahead of plans, the astronauts had time to enjoy their spectacular view as they perched on the station, jutting up from the shuttle's cargo bay.

"Jeff, look down please," pilot Scott Horowitz said as Atlantis passed over the eastern edge of Australia.

"Where in the world are we?" Williams called back, without a hint of irony. "It's beautiful."

The spacewalk was a home improvement project for Voss, who will live aboard the space station next year along with Atlantis crewmates Susan Helms and Yuri Usachev, a Russian cosmonaut.

The first order of business after tonight's entry inside will be to replace four of six batteries on the Russian side of the station, which was launched in November 1998. Later, the crew will also replace three fire extinguishers, four fans and 10 smoke detectors, for the mundane reason that all of their warranties have expired.

The crew will also haul more than 1,000 pounds of supplies into the station for use by future crews.

The space station will accommodate its first permanent residents in November at the earliest, 2 1/2 years behind schedule because the Russians have not yet launched a critical service module. The module, held back by financial problems, will serve as crew quarters.