Astronauts winding up ‘mission of Olympic proportions,’ hatches between spacecraft closing

Astronauts winding up Olympic-size space mission

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s orbiting astronauts celebrated the addition of the International Space Station’s new observation deck — and the near completion of the orbiting outpost — with red ribbon and moon rocks.

Thursday night’s formal opening of the seven-windowed lookout occurred just a few hours before the hatches were due to close between the space station and space shuttle Endeavour. After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, each of the astronauts spent a few moments alone in the dome, taking in what they described as amazing and stunning views of Earth.

“Arguably, mankind has been after this view for centuries, this perspective, this view of the world, and we finally have it,” said shuttle commander George Zamka.

The space station’s skipper, Jeffrey Williams, said the observation deck represented more than a beautiful view. “It culminates just about the assembly complete of the space station,” he noted.

The 11 space fliers teamed up over the past week to install the dome and the new room, Tranquility, the last of the major space station building blocks. They finished some last-minute packing, then gathered for the ceremony on the eve of Endeavour’s undocking from the space station.

Zamka presented a plaque to hang in the dome that contained four chips of moon rock and a stone retrieved from the top of Mt. Everest. A former astronaut carried the moon fragments to the top of Everest last spring.

The lunar chips were collected from the Sea of Tranquility during man’s first moon landing in 1969. The chamber was named after that momentous achievement.

Zamka said the rocks will serve “as a reminder of man’s reach and man’s grit as they go out and explore.”

In a news conference earlier in the evening, the two shuttle astronauts who swung open the window shutters on the observation deck Wednesday were rendered almost speechless when they gazed down at Earth 220 miles below.

“It’s going to be so hard to put into words the view that we see out those beautiful seven windows,” astronaut Kay Hire said in a news conference. “The best way I can think of is comparing a black and white analogue picture to a super high-def color picture. It’s just phenomenal what we can see out there.”

“It took my breath away,” added pilot Terry Virts. He said he’s been too busy to spend too much time in the lookout, but has particularly enjoyed watching sunrises.

“When the sun pops up, it’s like getting instantaneous floodlight in your eyes. It kind of overwhelms you,” Virts said. “You can sit there and stand up and actually with your eyes, at least perceive the entire Earth limb, and you can really see that the Earth is that round shape.”

Astronaut Robert Behnken said the view through those seven windows is comparable if not better than what he saw during his three spacewalks. And you can’t beat sharing the view with friends, he noted.

“If we had beer up here, it would make the best pub in the world,” English-born astronaut Nicholas Patrick said in response to a reporter’s question.

Endeavour delivered the Italian-built Tranquility and lookout last week, a more than $400 million addition that brought the space station to 98 percent of completion.

Mission Control congratulated the astronauts Thursday for “a docked mission of Olympic proportions.”

“You are officially the only folks who are able to get more hang time than Shaun White,” Mission Control noted in a message.

Speaking of the Olympics, the five space station astronauts have been keeping on top of the results. The orbiting outpost finally got Internet access last month.

“The distance has become closer,” said Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi. “I can access the Olympic results just like you on Earth.”

On the Net:

NASA: www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html