By DPA
Washington : Two astronauts from the US space shuttle Discovery have completed the mission’s first space walk at the International Space Station (ISS).
The two US citizens Scott Parazynski and Douglas Wheelock Friday installed the Harmony linking module, which is due to be used in December for docking the European space laboratory Columbus, in a temporary location outside the ISS.
They first prepared the module before crew inside the station used its robotic arm to move it into position.
They also removed an antenna and prepared a solar panel truss to be relocated.
Parazynski and Wheelock entered the station’s airlock early, taking extra, mandatory precautions after Parazynski saw ice crystals in space after disconnecting ammonia coolant lines on the truss.
NASA said all necessary precautions had been taken and there were no problems with ammonia contamination.
Harmony is an eight by five metre tube that will connect the US segment of the station to the European module Columbus, now set for delivery in December, and the Japanese module Kibo (hope), set for delivery next year.
The shuttle is currently docked at the port where Harmony is to be permanently attached, so it must first be removed and installed in a temporary spot until the space station crew can move it into place after Discovery’s departure.
The space walk lasted six hours and 14 minutes.
The crew is scheduled to complete four more space walks during the mission. The next is scheduled for Sunday.