Mission Status Center

The new Tranquility module became part of the International Space Station at 1:20 a.m. EST Friday, giving the orbiting outpost a new utility room and gym with a grand window on the world. Spacewalkers Bob Behnken and Nick Patrick prepped the module for removal from the shuttle payload bay and then worked to install umbilicals after it was attached to the station.

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EVA ENDS. Repressurization of the Quest airlock module began at 3:49 a.m. EST, marking the official end of today's spacewalk by Bob Behnken and Nick Patrick. The EVA lasted six hours and 32 minutes.

This was the first of three spacewalks planned for Endeavour's mission to the space station. The next EVA will occur Saturday night to begin setting up the ammonia cooling lines for Tranquility. The final excursion is planned for Tuesday night to finish the ammonia plumbing and prepping the cupola for use.

The outer airlock hatch has been closed and locked.

Mission Control reports good connectivity from the avionics and heater cables that the spacewalkers installed. Also, the initial leak check for the vestibule between Tranquility and Unity has gone well.

The spacewalkers are climbing into the airlock.

Tool inventories are underway between the spacewalkers before they wrap up this successful EVA.

The umbilical routing and connection work has been completed by the spacewalking duo. All of the activities have gone smoothly today.

The spacewalkers have gone to work hooking up the initial umbilical lines from the space station to Tranquility. Bob Behnken plans to connect two redundant sets of power and data cables from the Unity node while Nick Patrick installs launch-to-activation heater cables that will serve as a temporary method to keep Tranquility warm until the full cooling system is activated on the next two EVAs later in the mission.

Tranquility became part of the International Space Station at 1:20 a.m. EST, giving the orbiting outpost a new utility room and gym with a grand window on the world.

The module's home is the port-side attachment spot on the Unity connecting node, the original U.S.-built piece of the station launched in 1998.

Tranquility will be the life-support hub and house large refrigerator-sized racks of equipment such as the oxygen generation and air scrubbing systems, water recycling gear, the toilet and hygiene compartment. It'll also be the home for exercise machines and the treadmill named for comedian Stephen Colbert. At present, the racks are scattered throughout the station.

The module was built in Italy by Thales Alenia Space as part of the collaboration between the European Space Agency and NASA in the space station program. It is 23.6 feet in length, 14.5 feet in diameter and weighed 15 tons at launch.

Originally known as Node 3, the module was named Tranquility in commoration for Apollo 11's landing site at the Sea of Tranquility.

"When we attach Node 3 the appearance of the station is going to change forever, so we'll be able to look at that station and be able to say, 'Yes, we were part of that mission, and that station didn't look like that until we were there,' and we will also leave the station in its final envisioned configuration where the labs are for science and the environmental systems are housed for the most part in the nodes. So the space station will become what we have wanted it to be, a workplace for science and research with all the environmental systems that we need to sustain humans on board for a long time," said commander George Zamka.

Hitching a ride to orbit on the module is a seven-windowed cupola, also built in Europe. It'll become the control room for operating the station's Canadian-made robotic arm, affording panoramic views around the outpost for the astronauts, not to mention serving as a spectacular viewing portal to the cosmos.

Original plans for the station assembly sequence called for the cupola to be launched on an old Spacelab pallet in the shuttle bay. But when NASA reduced the number of available flights, it appeared the cupola could get left on the ground.

Engineers then devised a new strategy to launch the cupola temporarily anchored to the vacant berthing port on the front of Tranquility. They dusted off handling equipment and successfully got the two structures mated together in a delicate operation between American and European technicians.

The astronauts will use the station arm to relocate the cupola to its intended position on the side of Tranquility later in the mission. The duo can't be launched in that final configuration due to the tight confines of Endeavour's payload bay.

Also stashed inside Tranquility are bags of supplies -- about 1,000 pounds worth -- that take advantage of available capacity for delivering extra cargo to the station during these final shuttle flights.

First stage capture has been accomplished, pilot Terry Virts says.

The spacewalkers are 52 minutes ahead of their work schedule, Mission Control says.

All four ready-to-latch indicators have been received as Tranquility is fitted into the attachment mechanism on Unity. A two-stage capture sequence will see electronically-driven bolts engage and then firmly secure the two modules together.

Robot arm operator Kay Hire reports that the astronauts are ready to proceed with moving Tranquility from the current pre-install waypoint to the so-called ready-to-latch position.

With the spacewalkers running well ahead of their timeline, Houston has devised some minor get-ahead tasks for Behnken and Patrick to tackle while waiting for Tranquility to reach Unity.

Now passing the three-hour mark of today's EVA. The spacewalkers removed that tool platform from Dextre and are working to stow the object outside the station. They'll go up to the Unity node to start wiring Tranquility once the new module is docked.

Tranquility continues en route to its destination on the station's Unity connecting node. The station's arm is being operated by Kay Hire and Terry Virts.

While the spacewalkers wait for Tranquility to get attached to the station, they are going to prestage some bags of equipment needed for their second EVA coming up this weekend and then move to the Canadian DEXTRE robot for removal of a small tool platform.

In the grasp of the space station's robotic arm, the module has been hoisted out of the space shuttle payload bay where it rode into orbit.

Tranquility is in motion.

Behnken and Patrick have done their part to ready Tranquility to depart Endeavour and move over to its permanent home on the International Space Station. The crewmates inside the station now must command latches to open, freeing the module from the shuttle and use the robotic arm to do the heavy lifting for transporting Tranquility.

The spacewalkers are making their way into the payload bay of space shuttle Endeavour for hands-on work to ready Tranquility for its hoisting out of the cargo hold tonight.

Behnken will be removing a series of contamination covers from the attachment port on Tranquility that mates the module to the space station. Patrick will disconnect the shuttle cables that fed power to the module heaters.

EVA BEGINS. The spacewalkers switched their suits to internal battery power at 9:17 p.m. EST, marking the official start time for today's EVA by Bob Behnken and Nick Patrick. This is the first of three spacewalks planned during Endeavour's mission to attach and activate Tranquility and its cupola.

The depressurization has been completed and the Quest airlock's outer hatch leading to space just swung open.

Dressed in their spacewalking suits and ready to head outside today, Bob Behnken and Nick Patrick have moved into the section of the airlock that's now being depressurized.

The space station's robotic arm has grappled the Tranquility module riding in Endeavour's payload bay. After the spacewalkers get outside and disconnect heater cables from the module, the arm will unberth Tranquility.

The latest version of the NASA Television schedule (Rev. E) can be downloaded here.

Astronauts Robert Behnken and Nicholas Patrick suited up for a planned six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk tonight to help connect a new 15-ton habitation module to the International Space Station. Floating in the station's Quest airlock, the spacewalkers were expected to begin the EVA around 9:09 p.m. EST.

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Spacewalk preparations are going smoothly. Behnken and Patrick are suited up in the Quest airlock module and progressing through the multi-hour task to get ready for the excursion outside.

"Beautiful Day" by U2 was the wakeup call sounded to the astronauts to start the big day of Endeavour's mission. The first spacewalk of the flight and installation of Tranquility onto the space station will occur tonight.

The crew just completed some live interviews with KXTV-TV of Sacramento, WKRG-TV of Mobile and KMOX Radio of St. Louis. Now they'll head into some off-duty time.

Coming up a little after 4 a.m., the astronauts will return to work and conduct a procedure review for tomorrow night's spacewalk that will install the new Tranquility module.

Sleep officially begins at 8:14 a.m. EST.

The latest version of the NASA Television schedule (Rev. D) can be downloaded here.

A day after joining forces more than 200 miles above Earth, astronauts aboard the International Space Station and the shuttle Endeavour are enjoying a light duty day that includes spacewalk preps and repairs to the distillation assembly in the orbiting lab's urine processing system.

Earlier this afternoon, NASA said there is no need for a focused inspection of Endeavour's heat shield. Engineers are still assessing two areas of interest discovered during a photo survey of the shuttle as it approached the station late Tuesday.

The first spacewalk of Endeavour's mission is slated to begin Thursday night to help attach the Tranquility module to the space station.

Read our full story.

The wakeup call has been sounded from Houston for the crew to begin Flight Day 4, which is dedicated to repairing the water generating equipment in the space station and preparing for Thursday night's spacewalk.

The astronauts are getting ready for bedtime. They'll be awakened by Mission Control at 4:14 p.m. EST for Flight Day 4.

Read our earlier status center coverage.