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CNN Saturday Morning News

Airlock Installation Complete on International Space Station

Aired July 21, 2001 - 07:12   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.
BRIAN NELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Mission accomplished today for the space shuttle Atlantis astronauts. After a four-hour spacewalk, two astronauts have installed the last of four gas tanks on the International Space Station's passageway.

Here with more on that is CNN's John Zarrella.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It wasn't a giant leap for mankind, but it was a step out into space, 35 years after Neil Armstrong left his imprint on the moon.

MICHAEL GERNHARDT, MISSION SPECIALIST: And on this historic anniversary of the first moonwalk, it's a real honor for the integrated shuttle and station crews, along with the flight control teams, to usher in a new era of spacewalking for the International Space Station.

ZARRELLA: After two spacewalks by Atlantis astronauts Mike Gernhardt and Jim Reilly to install the Quest airlock on the International Space Station, the pair got to be the first to test it out and to check out the view from the new vantage point.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's quite a view coming out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it really is just straight down. You get a sense of falling, don't you? Wow, look at that.

ZARRELLA: The astronauts couldn't spend much time stopping at the scenic overlook. The primary task of this third and final spacewalk was to install the last of four high-pressure gas tanks on the Quest airlock.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, now rotate it back counterclockwise.

ZARRELLA: The installation went as smoothly as the first three.

With that out of the way, mission control asked the astronauts to check out one of the solar array motors that wasn't working properly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tool box.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, there's the tool box. ZARRELLA: Cameras mounted on the astronauts' helmets captured spectacular close-up images as Gernhardt and Riley moved slowly, hand over hand, to the solar array. But their visual inspection of the balky motor turned up nothing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jim, you don't have any signs of obvious finding or anything or anything that would cause it.

ZARRELLA: There was no more the astronauts could do but call it a day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any meal requests?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, a steak and a cold beer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Copy; an irradiated steak will be in the oven for you.

ZARRELLA: Real home cooking is only a couple of days away. Their mission complete, the Atlantis astronauts can start packing up for the trip home. They're expected back Tuesday.

John Zarrella, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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