Astronauts install Japanese ‘porch’

ASTRONAUTS working inside and out installed a porch for experiments on Japan’s enormous space station lab, accomplishing the major objective despite microphone static that often drowned out the spacewalkers’ voices.

Veteran spaceman David Wolf and rookie Timothy Kopra could barely make themselves understood at times because of the loud static emanating from Kopra’s helmet microphones.

“Dave, you’re unreadable,” astronaut Christopher Cassidy called from inside the shuttle-station complex. Two hours later, it was no better.