Spacewalking astronauts will work on assembling a Canadian robotic system on Saturday following the successful installation of the first segment of Japan's lab on the International Space Station. According to Reuters, Saturday's spacewalk will be the second of five planned during space shuttle Endeavour's busy 16-day mission in space. The plans had been in doubt until late on Friday when power was restored to the robotic system. But Friday was Japan's moment of space glory. Wearing protective masks and goggles, station commander Peggy Whitson, Japanese astronaut Takao Doi and lead shuttle spacewalker Rick Linnehan floated into an equipment-jammed storage closet that will be hooked up in May with Japan's main laboratory, named Kibo, or "Hope." "This is a small step for one Japanese astronaut, but a giant entrance for Japan to a greater and newer space program. Congratulations," Doi radioed to Japan's new space control center outside Tokyo. The cylinder is basically a storage compartment for the main segment of the three-piece Kibo, scheduled for delivery on a May space shuttle flight. The final piece will be flown up in early 2009. It follows the installation in February of Europe's lab on the ISS, which is now truly a global affair. The opening of Kibo marks the first time in the 10 years of space station construction that equipment from all 15 partner countries is operating together in orbit.
