AMERICANS WALK OUT INTO OUTER SPACE








KOROLYOV /MOSCOW REGION/ MARCH 11, 2001. /RIA NOVOSTI'S EDUARD PUZYREV/. The American astronauts of the second permanent expedition on board the ISS, James Boss and Susan Helms, have completed their space walk with the purpose of preparing place for installing the new Leonardo module they had brought with them, said NASA representative Sergey Puzanov in the Russian Flight Control Centre.


	The astronauts who had arrived at the ISS last Saturday on board the Discovery shuttle worked under the direction of the ISS commander, Russian Cosmonaut Yury Usachev.


	After seven hours in outer space, the astronauts, still dressed in space suits, are now in the air lock passage, accomplishing the unloading and automatic mounting of the Leonardo research cargo module on the surface by means of a mechanical arm.


	According to Puzanov, all the petals of the docking unit on which the module should be set have unfolded, which gives hopes that the entire operation will be a success. Though, if necessary, the astronauts can walk out into outer space again and "adjust" the module on the surface of the station, added Sergey Puzyrev.