First spacewalk of STS-122 is completed

HOUSTON, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- The U.S. space agency said astronauts Rex Walheim and Stanley Love completed the STS-122 mission's first spacewalk Monday -- a 7-hour, 58-minute adventure.

The two astronauts performed tasks to prepare the European Space Agency's Columbus laboratory for attachment to the International Space Station. Included in those tasks was installing a power grapple on Columbus, which will allow the station's robotic arm to grab the laboratory module and move it from space shuttle Atlantis' payload bay to the space station's Harmony module. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration said.

In addition, the spacewalkers detached nitrogen lines and began other work to remove the Nitrogen Tank Assembly, a part of the station's thermal control system, from the P1 truss. The assembly will be replaced on the mission's second spacewalk because its nitrogen is running low.

Monday's spacewalk was slightly curtailed after the astronauts ran more than an hour over the planned time line.

NASA controllers in Houston said Walheim and ESA astronaut Hans Schlegel are scheduled perform the second spacewalk beginning at 9:35 a.m. Wednesday.