Astronauts take 3rd and final spacewalk to help unveil phenomenal new ‘window on the world’

Astronauts take shutter-raising spacewalk

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A pair of astronauts are spacewalking for the third and last time, and it promises to be a grand finale.

Robert Behnken and Nicholas Patrick floated out of the shuttle-station complex Tuesday night. One of their primary jobs is to unwrap the International Space Station’s phenomenal new domed lookout — a “window on the world” as NASA calls it.

The spacewalkers will remove insulation from the seven windows and unlock the shutters. Then their colleagues inside will crank open the shutters and, if all goes well, enjoy the biggest and best views of Earth ever afforded orbiting astronauts.

The $27 million observation deck is part of the new space station room, Tranquility. Endeavour delivered the European compartments last week.