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New Shuttle Extension Boom Passes First Space Walk Test

By Jessica Berman
Washington
09 July 2006

The crew members of the US shuttle Discovery say they are pleased with how the mission to the International Space Station is going so far. On Sunday, the astronauts continued to move fresh supplies to the orbiting outpost and prepare for the second of three scheduled space walks. The first space walk to test a robotic arm extension is seen as a success.

During the first space walk on Saturday, astronauts Mike Fossum and Piers Sellers stood 340 kilometers above the Earth at the end of a 30-meter boom. They jumped, bounced, twisted in the weightlessness of outer space to test the new boom.

The boom, when outfitted with a camera, is an extension of Discovery's robotic arm that gives astronauts extra reach to examine potential damage to the space vehicle's fragile heat shields.

Speaking with reporters from the space station, Sellers says he was pleased with the first space walk.

"I think that we all feel, and our colleagues on the ground, that it was successful; that the boom can be used as a repair platform," said Piers Sellers. "And that we answered all the questions that were posed. I think we got the data that we needed."

The boom is part of an inspection procedure the U.S. space agency NASA developed following the Columbia disaster.

The space shuttle disintegrated three years upon reentry into Earth's atmosphere after the shuttle's protective heat shield was damaged by hard insulating foam during lift off. All seven astronauts were killed.

So far, mission controllers say Discovery looks fine and the shuttle's astronauts say they feel comfortable about returning to Earth safely.

This is the second shuttle mission since Columbia.

Shuttle commander Steven Lindsay says NASA has worked hard to restore the program.

"My hats are off to all of the engineers and all of the folks in the shuttle that have worked on this for so long, trying to solve a very, very difficult problem," said Steven Lindsay. "And to get a clean vehicle or a win I think is really exciting. And I'm really excited for them. And my hats are off to the whole work force who worked on this."

Monday's space walk will concentrate on maintenance of the International Space Station and include the transfer of scientific equipment.