CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Two spacewalking astronauts bolted a 44-foot girder to the international space station on Thursday, completing the first step in one of the most complicated construction jobs at the orbiting outpost. The 27,000-pound beam was first hoisted into place and clamped down by the space station's 58-foot robot arm, operated by remote control from inside the spacecraft by two astronauts.

Then two other astronauts, Steven Smith and Rex Walheim, floated outside, unfolded two V-shaped struts on the girder and bolted them down. As he put the final twist on the last of eight bolts, Walheim shouted, "Hot dog!"