Astronauts make history on 4th, final spacewalk

[May 27, 2011]  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- Two astronauts made history Friday as the final spacewalkers of NASA's 30-year shuttle program, completing construction of the International Space Station with the smooth addition of an extension pole.

"Space station assembly is complete," space shuttle Endeavour's commander, Mark Kelly, announced once the 50-foot boom was securely latched.

Spacewalkers Mike Fincke and Gregory Chamitoff teamed up with robot arm operator Gregory Johnson to accomplish the job.

"Assembly complete. Amazing," Chamitoff said. "Boy, this is a big space station," he marveled several minutes later.

Fincke and Chamitoff became the last shuttle crew members to perform a spacewalk. All future spacewalks -- including one during the final shuttle voyage this summer -- will be performed by full-time space station residents.

Another milestone was achieved: 1,000 hours of spacewalking at the orbiting outpost.

Before Friday morning, astronauts had logged 995 hours outside for space station assembly and maintenance. Fincke and Chamitoff hit the 1,000-hour mark five hours into their spacewalk, the 159th to build the station and keep it humming since 1998.

The space station's newly attached boom was used by shuttle Endeavour's astronauts Thursday to survey their ship for micrometeorite damage. NASA expects to finish reviewing the 3-D images Friday. If everything looks good, managers will clear Endeavour for next week's trip home.

The boom, which launched aboard Endeavour, will remain permanently at the space station and assist with future repairs, especially in hard-to-reach areas. Fincke and Chamitoff put an attachment on one end of the boom to fit the space station's robot arm, and disconnected the no-longer-needed laser sensors at its tip.

Besides the boom, the shuttle delivered a $2 billion particle physics detector that was placed on the station last week.

Endeavour, docked at the space station through this weekend, is making its last flight before being retired to a museum in California. Atlantis will close out the shuttle program in July.

"Beautiful Endeavour," Fincke called out as the spacewalk got under way. "She's a great ship."

"Looks like she belongs right there," Chamitoff agreed.

The spacewalkers also savored the views 220 miles below.

"Most beautiful planet in the solar system -- wow," Fincke said.

Later Friday, Fincke will surpass the U.S. record of 377 days in space. He spent six months living on the space station -- twice. This is his first shuttle trip; he previously rode Russian Soyuz rockets into orbit.

"I could not share this moment with a group of better people, including our friends on the ground," Fincke radioed.

Endeavour and its crew of six will leave the space station late Sunday night. Landing is set for the predawn hours of Wednesday during a rare touchdown in darkness.

While NASA's role in space station construction is over, the Russian Space Agency may add another chamber or two in years to come. The Russians also will continue to provide rides to and from the orbiting lab for U.S. astronauts until private companies in America are able to take over the job.

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Online:

NASA:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/
shuttle/main/index.html

[Associated Press; By MARCIA DUNN]

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