Addition is sparkling, clean

Astronauts get a look at the space station addition Harmony.Tests find little debris in the air.

CAPE CANAVERAL - Astronauts swung open the door to their new space station addition Saturday and floated into the spacious and sparkling white room, formally christening it Harmony.

Even though it looked immaculate inside, international space station commander Peggy Whitson and Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli - the first to enter - wore surgical masks and goggles to protect themselves from any dirty stowaways, like dust, lint or crumbs.

The air inside the school bus-size chamber was immediately tested, and Whitson later reported there wasn't much debris inside.

Harmony was named by schoolchildren in America but was made in Italy, and Nespoli proudly noted that as he bobbed up and down in the 24-foot-long, 14-foot-diameter chamber that was delivered by shuttle Discovery.

"It's a pleasure to be here in this very beautiful piece of hardware," he said.

Flight director Rick LaBrode admired Harmony from Mission Control. "It's bright, shiny ... it's as clean as can be, perfect shape," he said.

The European Space Agency's science laboratory, named Columbus, will hook onto Harmony as early as December. The Japanese Space Agency's lab - called Kibo, or in English, Hope - will latch onto Harmony early next year.

"I love the idea that delivering this (Harmony) is beginning a whole new era of science in space," Pamela Melroy, skipper of the Discovery, said in a series of TV interviews from inside the new addition.

She said that was more important to her at the moment than being one of two female commanders in space at the same time.

[Last modified October 28, 2007, 01:40:07]