(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-10-26 20:40

HOUSTON - Two spacewalking astronauts floated out of a hatch on the international space station on Friday to help install a new live-in compartment on the orbiting lab.

This image provided by NASA-TV Astronaut Douglas Wheelock emerges from the hatch of the airlock of the International Space Station as astronaut Scott Parazynski hangs above him Friday Oct. 26, 2007 at the start of the first spacewalk of their joint mission and the robotic installation of a new live-in compartment, called Harmony.The space walkers' first task will be the removal and stowage of the broken S-band Antenna Structural Assembly. [Agencies]

Astronauts Scott Parazynski and Douglas Wheelock got started about 30 minutes ahead of schedule, as the space station passed over South America.

"Like kids on Christmas morning getting up early," one of the spacewalkers said just before he ventured outside.

Parazynski and Wheelock will help astronauts inside the station use a robotic arm to transfer the compartment - called Harmony - from Discovery's payload bay to its position on the space station.

Their first task, however, involved removing a broken antenna from the station and packing it aboard Discovery so it can be refurbished back on Earth.

Wheelock rode on the end of the space station's robotic arm to remove the antenna and carry it to Discovery's payload bay.

"Thanks for the ride," he said to astronauts Daniel Tani and Stephanie Wilson, who were operating the arm inside the station.

"No problem, man, you look great out there," Tani responded.

"Yeah, you guys look great," Wilson added.

Harmony will serve as the docking port for European and Japanese laboratories that will be delivered on the next three shuttle flights. The Italian-made module is about the size of a school bus, weighing nearly 16 tons.

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