Astronauts Upgrade Station in Spacewalk

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Leaving their orbiting outpost unmanned, the international space station’s two astronauts floated outside on a spacewalk Friday and plugged in new antennas and replaced a worn- out piece of cooling equipment.

Gennady Padalka and Mike Fincke popped open the hatch on the Russian side of the spacecraft and quickly stepped through the fourth and final spacewalk of their six-month mission.

Their job: install three antennas for a new type of cargo carrier to be launched by the European Space Agency to the space station late next year and replace a 2-foot-square Russian pump panel, part of a critical system for cooling station equipment.

“Be careful,” Mission Control repeatedly warned the astronauts, telling them that something like snow might float out when the 6- year-old pump panel came out. “Go slowly.”

The new pump assembly went in neatly. Then the pair installed a few hooks on exterior handrails, for use during spacewalks. The antenna job followed; the men tossed antenna covers overboard as they connected the three devices, one by one.

Because no one was left inside the 225-mile-high complex, flight controllers in both Moscow and Houston kept close watch over the two men and all systems.