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CNN Live Today

A Long Walk

Aired October 10, 2002 - 11:25   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, you might think you are in for a long day, but how about the crew traveling aboard the space shuttle Atlantis? They have a really long day. They're about to venture outside to begin a big construction project on the International Space Station.
Our Miles O'Brien is watching the story and we're going to check with him to see if everything is on track and find out what the task at hand is, what they're honeydew list is for today, Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: It's a pretty big list, Daryn.

But you know, it may be a long day, but for those of you who might be watching this in a cubicle somewhere in an office, the view they have up there probably beats what you have now. You know, whom I'm talking about, the Dilbert nation out there is, well, jealous you might say, some of them, of the environs for the spacewalkers.

Live pictures from the quest airlock onboard the Quest International Space Station. What is it? Well, those -- there's a glove. And there's another glove behind there. This is Dave Wolf's helmet camera. There's his other glove right there, about a $15,000 article. They're inside the airlock of the space station, getting ready to begin their walk. They're running about 40 minutes behind schedule right now. These are some of the tool and equipment bags they have. Check out the checklist right down there. They wear that on their cuff of their sleeve. You can't really see that with the crawl under there, but basically, there's the checklist to keep them on target.

Let me show you some tape which might be more edifying to you from earlier this morning, about 6:30 Eastern Time, there was Dave Wolf. Check him out there. Why is he doing a workout you might ask before his long day in space? Well, if you look very, very closely here, he is wearing an oxygen mask, and this is how they quickly purge their bloodstream of nitrogen bubbles, thus avoiding the bends without having to depressurize the entire space station.

This is the object of their fancy today, the $390 million S-1 Truss. This is about the size of a school bus. It's latched on already. It was down so automatically using the shuttle -- excuse me, the robotic arm here, but a billion-dollar operation that is. So far, that went well. The spacewalkers will go out there and undo a bunch of bolts that were designed like the shipping contents, sort of like the peanuts in the box to make sure that that S-1 truss is delivered safely. It was delivered safely, so attach some cables and wires and we'll be watching it every step of the way, Daryn.

KAGAN: OK, Miles, my question for the next time you talk to the astronauts, much was made of the astronauts wanting fresh food, like fresh fruit, and pecan pie and salsa. I wonder if stuff tastes different out in space since so much is so different?

O'BRIEN: I do know the answer. Do you have time?

KAGAN: Real quick.

O'BRIEN: The answer is, basically, your taste buds deaden a little bit. They don't know exactly why, probably because your sinuses get congested because everything kind of moves up in your head and they crave spicy food.

KAGAN: That is something that I can understand, after my own heart here on Earth, thank you very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired October 10, 2002 - 11:25   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, you might think you are in for a long day, but how about the crew traveling aboard the space shuttle Atlantis? They have a really long day. They're about to venture outside to begin a big construction project on the International Space Station.
Our Miles O'Brien is watching the story and we're going to check with him to see if everything is on track and find out what the task at hand is, what they're honeydew list is for today, Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: It's a pretty big list, Daryn.

But you know, it may be a long day, but for those of you who might be watching this in a cubicle somewhere in an office, the view they have up there probably beats what you have now. You know, whom I'm talking about, the Dilbert nation out there is, well, jealous you might say, some of them, of the environs for the spacewalkers.

Live pictures from the quest airlock onboard the Quest International Space Station. What is it? Well, those -- there's a glove. And there's another glove behind there. This is Dave Wolf's helmet camera. There's his other glove right there, about a $15,000 article. They're inside the airlock of the space station, getting ready to begin their walk. They're running about 40 minutes behind schedule right now. These are some of the tool and equipment bags they have. Check out the checklist right down there. They wear that on their cuff of their sleeve. You can't really see that with the crawl under there, but basically, there's the checklist to keep them on target.

Let me show you some tape which might be more edifying to you from earlier this morning, about 6:30 Eastern Time, there was Dave Wolf. Check him out there. Why is he doing a workout you might ask before his long day in space? Well, if you look very, very closely here, he is wearing an oxygen mask, and this is how they quickly purge their bloodstream of nitrogen bubbles, thus avoiding the bends without having to depressurize the entire space station.

This is the object of their fancy today, the $390 million S-1 Truss. This is about the size of a school bus. It's latched on already. It was down so automatically using the shuttle -- excuse me, the robotic arm here, but a billion-dollar operation that is. So far, that went well. The spacewalkers will go out there and undo a bunch of bolts that were designed like the shipping contents, sort of like the peanuts in the box to make sure that that S-1 truss is delivered safely. It was delivered safely, so attach some cables and wires and we'll be watching it every step of the way, Daryn.

KAGAN: OK, Miles, my question for the next time you talk to the astronauts, much was made of the astronauts wanting fresh food, like fresh fruit, and pecan pie and salsa. I wonder if stuff tastes different out in space since so much is so different?

O'BRIEN: I do know the answer. Do you have time?

KAGAN: Real quick.

O'BRIEN: The answer is, basically, your taste buds deaden a little bit. They don't know exactly why, probably because your sinuses get congested because everything kind of moves up in your head and they crave spicy food.

KAGAN: That is something that I can understand, after my own heart here on Earth, thank you very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com