News on hold as father-to-be completes space walk

A spacewalking astronaut put aside the impending birth of his daughter and concentrated instead on his first-ever venture outside the International Space Station today.

Atlantis crewman Randolph Bresnik said he was impressed as he installed a pair of antennas.

“Other than seeing my wife for the first time, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more beautiful face,” Bresnik said, gazing down at Earth 220 miles (355 kilometres) below. “This is amazing.”

Bresnik’s wife, Rebecca, was at home in Houston, and is due to give birth to their second child at any moment. They also have a 3-year-old son, adopted from Ukraine.

The delivery had been due on Friday, but the baby had yet to arrive when the second spacewalk of the week-long mission started this morning. The astronauts agreed with Mission Control to hold off on any news if the birth occurred during the spacewalk.

Everyone wanted Bresnik, a 42-year-old Marine, focused on the spacewalk because of the extra risk posed by working outside.

Bresnik and his veteran spacewalking partner, Michael Foreman, got off to a late but fast start, bolting down antenna equipment and relocating a monitor for electrical hazards. They were an hour ahead at one point.

The spacewalk had been delayed by more than an hour due to false decompression alarms that rang through the orbiting complex late yesterday, for the second night in a row. The high-pitched beeps – emanating from a new Russian research chamber – triggered a series of smoke alarms. The racket woke up the astronauts and disrupted spacewalk preparations.

Before the spacewalk, the combined crews attached a giant platform full of spare parts to the exterior of the space station, using robot arms. It was the second such shelf to be installed this week. Atlantis hauled up nearly 15 tons of equipment to keep the station running long after the shuttles’ retirement next year.

One more spacewalk is planned on Monday and the shuttle will remain at the station until Wednesday, with its landing due on Friday.