Washington, February 12, 2008 - Astronauts placed the crown jewel of Europe’s contribution to the International Space Station into its permanent setting on Monday with the attachment of the Columbus science module.

On a seven-hour, 58-minute spacewalk, two astronauts and a robot arm guided the Columbus out of the cargo bay of the space shuttle Atlantis and affixed it to station.

Col. Rex J. Walheim of the Air Force and Stanley G. Love labored outside the space complex for hours preparing the module for removal from the cargo bay before Leland D. Melvin used the station’s robot arm to pull it out. Because of balky connectors and attachments, the excursion lasted almost 90 minutes longer than planned.

When the spacewalkers moved away, Mr. Melvin lifted the shiny 28,200-pound module up and out, and maneuvered the 23-foot-long, 15-feet-diameter structure toward its permanent attachment point on the side of the station.

After it was positioned in place on the right side of the station’s Harmony connecting module, the Columbus module was permanently pulled into place by a set of motorized bolts as the spacewalkers returned inside the station.

The $2 billion Columbus module, which adds 2,600 cubic feet of volume to the station and doubles its research ability, is the primary contribution to the project by the 17 countries of the European Space Agency. The module is to be operated by Europe from a new control center near Munich.

Gen. Léopold Eyharts of the French Air Force, who arrived on Saturday with the Atlantis and will stay aboard the station to activate the module, was exuberant as he announced its attachment. More