CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Astronauts did some rearranging at
the International Space Station for the second night in a row
Monday, moving an old docking adapter into a new position.
A pair of spacemen used the station's hefty robot arm to remove
the 10-year-old adapter from the space station and transfer it to a
port at the new room, Tranquility. There, it will provide an extra
parking spot for visiting vessels and serve as a buffer against
micrometeorite hits.
As that work was going on, the crews of the shuttle and station
were connecting power and data lines in the new $27 million
observation deck that was moved to its permanent location early
Monday. Later this week, the domed, seven-windowed lookout will get
its most important addition: a robotic work station for operating
the station's mechanical arm.
"It's a beautiful module," said shuttle pilot Terry Virts.
Monday's work unfolded on the eve of the third and final
spacewalk of Endeavour's mission. Robert Behnken and Nicholas
Patrick will venture back out Tuesday night and unlock the shutters
on the lookout's windows, enabling their colleagues inside to crank
open the shutters.
The astronauts can't wait to gaze down at Earth through those
windows; the center one is the biggest window ever flown in space.
Behnken and Patrick were the ones who operated the robot arm
during Monday night's moving operation.
"Take the rest of the afternoon off," Mission Control radioed
after the relocation job was completed. Mission Control gave the
two crews Tuesday morning off to prepare for the spacewalk finale;
it's afternoon to the astronauts, who are working the graveyard
shift in orbit.
Endeavour and its crew of six will depart the space station
Friday after a visit of 1 1/2 weeks. They've already accomplished
their major objective: delivering and installing Tranquility and
the observation deck, European contributions.
NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission(underscore)pages/shuttle/main/index.html
