Astronauts on the International Space Station got more living space on Saturday when they opened up Harmony, the outpost's first new room in six years.
Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli and station commander Peggy Whitson lifted the hatch, then floated into the Italian-built chamber attached during a Friday spacewalk two days after arriving aboard space shuttle Discovery.
"It is a pleasure to be here in this very beautiful piece of hardware," Nespoli said as he admired its white, austere interior. He later made similar remarks in Italian.
"We want to acknowledge and christen the Harmony module," Whitson said. "We think Harmony is a very good name for this module because it represents the culmination of a lot of international partner work." The name was selected from submissions by schoolchildren.
Whitson, the station's first female commander, received a necklace with a Harmony charm from Discovery commander Pamela Melroy. Harmony adds 2,600 cubic feet (74 cubic metres) of space to the station, which measured 15,000 cubic feet (425 cubic metres) before its arrival. The 24-foot-(seven-metre-)long cylinder will be a living area and also the berthing port for European and Japanese laboratories to be installed on upcoming shuttle flights. NASA plans to finish the $100 billion station by 2010 when the shuttle fleet is set to be retired.
Astronauts prepared Harmony for entry by connecting its power and data cables and turning on its lights. Whitson and Nespoli, wearing face masks, tested the air for contaminants as they entered.