'It was fun'

Space walk by U.S. astronauts a success

March 27, 1996
Web posted at: 11:00 a.m. EST

From Correspondent John Holliman

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida (CNN) -- NASA astronauts Linda Godwin and Rich Clifford floated back inside space shuttle Atlantis early Wednesday, after finishing a historic six-hour spacewalk around the Russian space station Mir. (297K QuickTime movie)

Despite a grueling day, during which the astronauts inched along the shuttle's cargo bay to Mir's docking unit for experimental purposes, the two seemed upbeat.

"You guys are batting a thousand," a voice from Mission Control said, congratulating them on their journey.

"It was fun," Clifford responded enthusiastically.

It was the first spacewalk by U.S. astronauts outside Mir, and it was the first time in 22 years Americans have worked outside a space station. U.S. astronauts ventured outside Skylab in 1974.

The main task for Godwin and Clifford was to attach four experiment boxes to Mir that will help assess the environment around the Russian space station.

As the massive Atlantis-Mir complex soared 250 miles above the South Pacific, the astronauts used long tethers fastened to Atlantis to guide them and to make sure they did not float off into space.

If a tether had broken, the astronauts' suits were equipped with high-powered jet packs that could lead them safely back to the shuttle.

The astronauts, in their streamlined white spacesuits, looked somewhat awkward as they maneuvered slowly and attached the boxes which resembled shiny, metal suitcases. (408K QuickTime movie)

The 55- to 60-pound boxes contain paint samples, fibers, metals and other materials that will help determine what sort of particles are around the space station. Another shuttle crew will retrieve the boxes in about 18 months.

Scientists will then study the material and analyze what sort of material should be used for the external surface of the proposed international space station to built in a few years.

The spacewalk is an example of the work astronauts will be expected to do while constructing and maintaining the proposed station.

During their excursion, the astronauts also cut an electrical cable and removed a television camera from the tunnel between the shuttle and Mir. Shuttle astronauts used the camera while installing the docking port last November.

A ground controller from Mission Control said the directors of the spacewalk "are just ecstatic."

Late Thursday, shuttle Atlantis is to undock from Mir and begin its voyage home, ending the third docking of the two spacecraft.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Related Stories:

• Space Exploration: The Shuttle Missions
• Astronauts prepare for historic spacewalk
• Atlantis gracefully docks with Mir
• High winds delay shuttle launch
• Hydraulic leak won't shorten shuttle mission
• Russian space center lies in ruins

Related Site:

• NASA Shuttle Web

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