Construction of a framework for expanded research begins today as the S-Zero (S0) truss segment is installed on the International Space Station. The truss will provide support for the cooling and power systems necessary to attach additional laboratories to the complex.

The Atlantis crew - Commander Mike Bloomfield, Pilot Steve Frick and mission specialists Rex Walheim, Ellen Ochoa, Lee Morin, Jerry Ross and Steve Smith - was awakened at 3:44 a.m. by the University of California-Berkeley fight song performed by the school band and “All Right Now,” performed by the Stanford University band. Ochoa requested the songs be played for crewmates Walheim and Smith who attended the rival schools.

On board the station, the Expedition 4 crew, Commander Yury Onufrienko and flight engineers Carl Walz and Dan Bursch, also awoke at 3:44 a.m. to an alarm-clock-like tone. Both crews are ready to support the addition of the new segment to the station.

Ochoa, assisted by Bursch, will command the space station robotic arm, Canadarm2, to grapple S0 about 5 a.m. Canadarm2 will lift the truss segment out and away from Atlantis’ cargo bay and temporarily install it on the U.S. laboratory Destiny. The Lab Cradle Assembly will provide a semi-rigid structural hold until the truss segment is permanently attached during four spacewalks this week.

The first spacewalk is set to begin about 10 a.m. today as Smith, wearing the suit with solid red stripes, and Walheim, in a solid white suit, float out of the station’s Quest airlock. After initial setup procedures, their tasks during the 6½ hour venture include attaching two of four S0 mounting struts to Destiny, as well as an avionics tray that contains power, data and fluid cables and an umbilical system connected to the Mobile Transporter. If time permits, Smith will remove a launch support beam and also go inside the truss to install two circuit breakers.

Ochoa and Bursch will move Walheim on Canadarm2 to worksites throughout the spacewalk. Bloomfield and Frick will use the shuttle’s robotic arm cameras to take video of the spacewalkers while Ross guides them through the outlined procedures.

The next STS-110 mission status report will be issued Thursday afternoon, or earlier if events warrant.

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