Space

DATE=07/14/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=SHUTTLE SPACEWALK PREVIEW (S-ALTERNATE)

NUMBER=2-278223

BYLINE=DAVID McALARY

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

CONTENT=

INTERNET=

VOICED AT:

/// EDS: CAN BE AN ALTERNATE TO CORRESPONDENT REPORT 2-278218, "SHUTTLE/SPACE STATION UPDATE" ///

INTRO: U-S astronauts will venture outside the shuttle Atlantis later today to help install a new passageway to space on the international space station. As V-O-A science correspondent David McAlary tells us, the gateway will allow spacewalkers to come and go from the outpost for the first time.

TEXT: Atlantis crewmen Mike Gernhardt [GERN-heart] and Jim Reilly [RYE-lee] will don their spacesuits and help shuttle crane operator Janet Kavandi [kuh-VAHN-dee] maneuver the 58-hundred kilogram passageway out of the orbiter's cargo bay and over to the station's robot arm.

Three spacewalks will be needed to attach the new portal to the station, along with the exterior oxygen and nitrogen tanks that pressurize it.

The plan calls for the third outing to utilize the foyer, making it the first spacewalk originating from the space station. All previous spacewalks have begun from the shuttle.

The U-S space agency NASA says the entryway -- combined with the station's robot arm -- will free the outpost from its reliance on the shuttle's presence for assembly and maintenance activities.

Atlantis arrived at the station late Friday and will remain docked for one week. (SIGNED)

NEB/DEM/PFH