Posted: Sat, Jun 9, 2001, 11:12 AM ET (1512 GMT)
Two members of the International Space Station Expedition Two crew completed their first spacewalk Friday, installing a docking apparatus in a section of the station. Cosmonaut Yuri Usachev and astronaut James Voss completed the internal spacewalk within a depressurized portion of the Zvezda module in just 19 minutes, starting at 10:21 am EDT (1421 GMT) Friday. The purpose of the spacewalk was to install a docking cone in the nadir (Earth-facing) port of a spherical transfer compartment at the forward end of the module. This docking cone will allow a Russian airlock and docking module to be attached there later this year. The spacewalk went smoothly and look far less time than the 30-40 minutes station managers had estimated. The third member of the Expedition Two crew, Susan Helms, monitored the spacewalk from the Zarya module. The crew and engineers on the ground continue to struggle with the station's robotic arm, whose problems have delayed the launch of the STS-104 shuttle mission until at least July 7. Florida Today reported Saturday that the computer problems with the arm, which seemed to go away earlier in the week, reappeared briefly late Thursday.

Related Links:

•  ISS status report for 2001 June 8
•  Florida Today article about spacewalk and arm problems