A Long Walk In Space

March 1, 2001 / 3:22 PM EST / AP

Setting a new record for the space shuttle program, two astronauts from the shuttle Discovery spent nearly nine hours on a spacewalk over the weekend.

Astronauts Jim Voss and Susan Helms installed new hardware and relocated equipment on the international space station Alpha early Sunday. Their spacewalk - meant to run only seven and a half hours - lasted 8 hours and 56 minutes.

CBS News Reporter Beth Dickey at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida says the spacewalk clears the way for a cargo carrier filled with supplies for Voss and Helms' upcoming four-month stay aboard the orbiting outpost.

The prior longest spacewalk in the shuttle program, in May 1992, lasted 8 hours 29 minutes.

During their marathon excursion, Voss and Helms spent the early hours of Sunday disconnecting cables which were helping to hold a docking port in place on Alpha.

After the cables were disconnected, astronaut Andrew Thomas used the shuttle's robotic arm to grab the docking port. He moved it a short way to another part of the station to make room for the Leonardo cargo carrier that was ferried up aboard Discovery. Leonardo was to be temporarily attached to Alpha late Sunday.

After completing their work, Voss and Helms waited in the shuttle's airlock to see if Thomas needed their help, which in the end was not required. The process of attaching the docking port to its new location took longer than expected.

"Thanks for your great work. We're glad to see (the docking port) in its long term home," Mission Control told the shuttle crew after the port was in place.

The spacewalkers had to deal with a few minor glitches during their walk, which began shortly after midnight Saturday.

During its start, a plastic bag holding a hydrazine-detection kit drifted away from the shuttle, but Voss used Discovery's robot arm to reach it.

Minutes later, Voss accidentally let go of a portable attachment device needed for a work platform, but his shuttle crewmates told him a spare was available.

When Voss began removing cables connecting the docking port, he had trouble taking off the first one.

"It's not my day apparently," Voss said. The cable came off with a little extra force. Voss and Helms also had some trouble rerouting other cables on the port.

The small problems put them about an hour behind schedule.

To make up the time, flight controllers decided the spacewalkers would not make connections to a long tray of cables they installed on the underside of the Destiny science lab. The cables, which will provide power, data, and video links between the station's robotic arm and Destiny, will be connected during the mission's second spacewalk, set to start late Monday.

The station's robotic arm is to be delivered in April.

Also during Sunday's spacewalk, Voss also moved a communications antenna from the spot where the port was relocated. The antenna was to be taen back inside the station.

The mission's main objective is to deliver Alpha's first replacement crew, made up of Voss, Helms, and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Usachev. They'll relieve the current three-member crew of commander Bill Shepherd and two Russian cosmonauts, who have been aboard since November.

Usachev has already moved into Alpha. Voss and Helms will join him over the next several days.