Astronauts complete successful spacewalk

MELBOURNE, FLORIDA - The two-man crew aboard the International Space Station have successfully completed a 5 1/2-hour spacewalk, setting up a robotics experiment and helping engineers fix a problem with the station's oxygen generator.

NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao and Russian cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov left the outpost at 8.43pm on Wednesday NZT, leaving only ground control teams to watch over the station. The risky arrangement was necessary because the station's third crewmember was cut to save on supplies while NASA's shuttle fleet is grounded.

"Hello space, my old friend," said Chiao, a veteran of four previous spacewalks, as he slipped outside the station's Pirs docking module.

He was followed moments later by Sharipov, a rookie spacewalker, who commented, "It's so cold and beautiful."

Floating 225 miles above Earth, the men gathered their tools and equipment and painstakingly made their way to the top of the Zvezda module to install a platform containing a German-built robotic arm. The 20-inch device, called Rokviss, can be remotely operated by engineers on the ground or by crewmembers aboard the space station. It features two joints, two cameras and a finger-shaped tip.

Over the next several months, Rokviss will be tested to see how the system withstands the harsh space environment.

In order to properly mount the robot's communications gear, the spacewalkers had to relocate a Japanese-sponsored experiment that is collecting information about how micrometeorite impacts and space radiation affect various materials.

Ground control teams initially did not get proper power readings from Rokviss and asked the spacewalkers to check the electrical connections before they returned to the airlock. Unplugging and plugging the connections fixed the problem.

"Everything works perfect," a Russian flight director told the crew.

"Well thank God," replied Chiao.

"Well, thank you," the controller said. "Good job, good job."

In addition to installing Rokviss, Chiao and Sharipov inspected three exhaust vents used by the station's oxygen generator, air scrubber and particle contaminate filter. The machines have been operating sporadically for several weeks.

Sharipov reported seeing an oily white residue on insulation around the vents. The buildup resembled a honeycomb in some places. Sharipov took pictures of the vent that will be relayed to engineers on the ground.

The station crew also attached a Russian biomedical experiment, called Biorisk, outside the station to test how space radiation and solar activity affect simple living organisms.

"Congratulations and thank you," a flight director told the crew as they headed back into the station.

Chiao and Sharipov plan to take Thursday off to recover from their 20-hour day. Their next spacewalk, scheduled for March, will be devoted to preparing the station for the automated docking of Europe's first cargo ship.

- REUTERS