Space station gets a room addition

Astronauts added a room to the International Space Station on Friday.

The school bus-size compartment, named Harmony, was attached by a team of spacewalkers working outside and robot-arm operators inside.

“I don’t know that anybody’s ever told our crew that we bring harmony with us, but we sure bring fun,” Discovery Commander Pamela A. Melroy said as the spacewalk ended and the congratulations began.

The Italian-built Harmony -- 24 feet long and 31,000 pounds -- was unloaded from the shuttle’s payload bay and hoisted into place by the space station’s robot arm. It is in a temporary location and will be moved to its permanent spot after the shuttle leaves. European and Japanese laboratories will latch onto Harmony in the coming months.

“Now the crews that are hot on our heels have a place to come,” spacewalker Scott Parazynski said.

It was the first of five spacewalks planned during Discovery’s space station visit, and the first pressurized compartment added to the orbiting complex in six years. The space station’s living space grew by 18% with the addition of Harmony. The astronauts will enter the new compartment today.

NASA confirmed Friday that Discovery’s astronauts would not have to conduct any more inspections for launch damage and that the shuttle’s thermal shielding appeared to be in good condition for the Nov. 6 reentry. However, an inspection will be done two days before landing to check for any impacts from orbital debris.

Parazynski and spacewalking partner Douglas H. Wheelock helped prepare Harmony for the demanding robot-arm operation by Stephanie Wilson and Daniel Tani.

The two spacewalkers also disconnected ammonia coolant lines from a giant girder that will be moved to another spot on the station next week. They put covers over a radiator and electrical boxes on the girder to keep them warm.