Two spacewalking astronauts floated out of a hatch on the international space station on Monday to help install a new European lab, while a crewmate who was supposed to participate in the outing helped from inside.Spacewalkers Rex Walheim and Stanley Love ventured outside as the space station passed over Asia.
"Welcome to spacewalking buddy," Walheim said as Love made his way through the hatch for his first spacewalk.
"It's awesome," Love replied.
German astronaut Hans Schlegel was supposed to be Walheim's spacewalking partner, but he was pulled from the job Saturday because of an undisclosed illness. Schlegel looked and sounded well Sunday and was expected to take part in the second spacewalk of the mission on Wednesday. On Monday, however, he was helping choreograph the outing from inside the station.
The main task for Walheim and Love will be attaching a handle to Columbus that will allow robotic arm operator Leland Melvin to grab hold of the module and delicately lift it from Atlantis' cargo bay.
NASA is vigilant when it comes to the shuttle's thermal shielding, ever since Columbia was destroyed in 2003 following a foam strike to its wing during launch.
John Shannon, chairman of the mission management team, said the thermal covering on the wings, nose and belly of Atlantis have no areas of concern and have been cleared for re-entry in just over a week.
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