Big day in orbit: Astronauts attach new girder to space station

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - Astronauts attached a new 14-ton girder to the international space station on Thursday, with the help of an immense construction crane. <br><br>It was the first step in installing

Thursday, October 10th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - Astronauts attached a new 14-ton girder to the international space station on Thursday, with the help of an immense construction crane.

It was the first step in installing the thick aluminum beam. As the pieces neatly came together, two of shuttle Atlantis' visiting astronauts stood by to venture out on the first of three space walks, to make all the vital electrical connections.

Station astronaut Peggy Whitson and shuttle astronaut Sandra Magnus began the 240-mile-high construction work shortly after waking up. They used the station's robot arm to remove the 45-foot-long, 15-foot wide girder from Atlantis' payload bay.

Three hours later, the women hoisted the structure into place on the station. A mechanical claw secured the girder to a similar frame that was launched earlier this year.

Atlantis arrived with the girder on Wednesday, along with a fresh supply of salsa.

After four months of bland, canned food, Whitson, the space station's lone American, had requested some spice.

â€œWe've got your salsa,â€ Atlantis' skipper, Jeffrey Ashby, radioed as the shuttle drew near.

â€œOK, we'll let you in then,â€ Whitson replied.

The docking took place more than 240 miles above central Asia. Mission Control congratulated Ashby and his crew on â€œan impressive, flawless rendezvous and the smoothest docking sequence we've seen in quite a few flights.â€

Less than two hours later, the hatches between the two spacecraft swung open and Whitson and her two Russian crewmates embraced their first guests. Cheers, shouts and laughter filled the orbiting complex. â€œYou guys look great!â€ one of Atlantis' crewmen said.

Whitson shared an especially long hug with Magnus, a fellow classmate and good friend who lugged a big brown bag, presumably filled with goodies.

Besides salsa, the six shuttle astronauts brought onions, garlic, fresh fruit and a pecan pie.

â€œWe hope you're enjoying the company,â€ Mission Control radioed.

The $390 million girder delivered by Atlantis is equipped with three radiators and 15 miles of wiring. It also has more than one-third mile of fiber optic cable and 426 feet of stainless steel tubes for ammonia, which will serve as a coolant, and nitrogen, which will maintain the ammonia pressure.

The cooling system will not be activated until next year.

Another girder with another set of radiators will be delivered next month by space shuttle Endeavor, which will also be the ride home for Whitson and cosmonauts Valery Korzun and Sergei Treschev. The three moved into the space station in June.