Shuttle astronauts deliver space station's new gear

By Irene Klotz

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Space shuttle astronauts delivered tons of custom upgrades to the International Space Station on Monday and prepared for their first spacewalk to restore the outpost to full power.

Working from inside the space station's Destiny laboratory, shuttle Endeavour crew members Don Pettit and Shane Kimbrough used a robotic crane to delicately pluck an Italian-built cargo canister from the shuttle's payload bay and fly it to a berthing port on the station.

The canister holds two new sleeping compartments, a second toilet, galley equipment and a water regeneration system to recycle urine into drinking water.

The gear is needed to support six crew on the $100 billion station, twice the current crew size.

"By going to a crew of six, we expand opportunities for ourselves and our partners to fly astronauts to do the kinds of experiments for which the space station was built," said NASA administrator Michael Griffin.

Endeavour arrived at the space station Sunday for an 11- to 12-day service call.

In addition to remodeling the station's interior, two Endeavour astronauts plan to head outside on Tuesday to work on the station's solar power system.

Spacewalkers Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper and Steve Bowen, prepared their spacesuits and equipment for the first of four outings to repair a rotary joint, used to pivot huge solar power panels, which is contaminated with metal filings.

It is NASA's fourth and final shuttle mission of the year. Nine more flights are planned before the three-ship fleet is retired in 2010.

NASA and Russia have been building the space station for 10 years. It is scheduled to be finished in 2010, at a cost of more than $100 billion. Europe, Canada and Japan also are project participants.

(Editing by Chris Wilson)