Astronauts start the heavy duty move of power tower

SPACEWALKING astronauts unhooked a 35,000-pound girder from the international space station yesterday, starting the process of moving the solar power tower to another part of the orbiting outpost.

The two spacewalkers Scott Parazynski and Daniel Tani started their six-and-a-half-hour jaunt by disconnecting cables and unscrewing bolts that connected the girder to the space station’s backbone.

During their tasks they guided astronauts Stephanie Wilson and Douglas Wheelock as they used the station’s robotic arm to detach the huge truss.

“Don’t drop it,” joked one of the spacewalkers.

The robotic arm operators inside the station will move the girder to a location where it can be temporarily parked. Installation is set for tomorrow during the mission’s third spacewalk.

While they worked, Mr Tani caught a glimpse of Ireland through the clouds and had a chance to wave at his friends and family there. Mr Tani met his Irish wife while golfing in Cork. And later he got to see Chicago and even nearby Lombard, his hometown, 210 miles below.

“Can’t wait to get back there and share all my stories with them,” he said.

Mr Parazynski and Mr Tani later added equipment to the outside of Harmony, a school bus-sized chamber that was delivered by Discovery and installed during the mission’s first spacewalk. The crew entered the room for the first time on Saturday.

Besides handrails, the astronauts attached a fixture on Harmony that will allow the station’s robotic arm to move the compartment from its temporary location to its permanent home.

The space station’s crew will relocate Harmony after Discovery leaves in another week.

The European Space Agency’s science laboratory, named Columbus, will hook onto Harmony in December.

The Japanese Space Agency’s lab will latch onto Harmony early next year.

Harmony also will function as a nerve centre, providing air, electricity and water for the space station.

On tracks for the space station’s robot arm, Mr Tani found dozens of micrometeorite dings on a handrail, but nothing very sharp that might have cut spacewalkers’ gloves.

Mr Tani also inspected a rotary joint for the station’s solar wings that has been exhibiting vibrations and electrical current spikes for the past few months. Metal shavings were everywhere, clinging to the joint as if to a magnet. Mr Tani used tape to collect some for analysis back on Earth.