DATE=04/10/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=SHUTTLE / STATION OVERNITER (S-ONLY)

NUMBER=2-288557

BYLINE=DAVID McALARY

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

CONTENT=

INTERNET=

VOICED AT:

///EDS: SPACEWALK BEGINS AT 11:04 AM ET (15:04 UTC) THURSDAY 4/11/02. ///

INTRO: U-S astronauts embark on a spacewalk later today (Thursday) to attach a girder to the back of the international space station. As David McAlary tells us, the outing follows Wednesday's arrival of the space shuttle Atlantis for a week of construction work on the outpost.

TEXT: Atlantis brought with it a 13-meter long, 13-ton girder that the station's robot arm will swing out of the shuttle's payload bay later Thursday and place across the station's U-S laboratory.

The girder is the first section of what eventually will spread 100 meters across the lab as a support for future electrical generating, cooling, and navigation equipment.

As soon as the girder is mounted, two spacewalking astronauts who flew up on Atlantis will lock it into place. On subsequent outings later in the week, they and an alternating team will feed electrical, data, and plumbing connections through the new truss.

The shuttle arrived Wednesday with a team of seven that floated into the station to greet the three U-S and Russian crewmen who have inhabited the outpost since December.

After handshakes and hugs, the joint crew quickly began hauling in new supplies for the station. (SIGNED)

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