The cupola observation deck has opened and what an amazing view

The third spacewalk on mission STS-130 has ended and the opening of the balcony windows was its culmination

Endeavor pilot Terry Wirts opened a window yesterday (Wednesday) giving astronauts Robert Behnken and Nicholas Patrick their first look at the space station's observation deck from the outside in as they helped install the component

Behnken and Patrick completed their third spacewalk lasting five hours and 48 minutes when they completed all of their scheduled missions, removing the containment envelope and launch pads from each of the cupola's seven windows. Inside the cupola, Wirtz opened and immediately closed every window, first and foremost the circular central window that was 80 centimeters in diameter. He looked for the first time through the station's largest window, attached to the Earth-facing portion of the Tranquility Module, which provides a valuable view of Earth and the space station's robotic arm to facilitate its future operation.

Towards the end of the spacewalk, all the windows were opened at the same time. Astronaut Catherine Hare hailed the spacewalkers for "removing the screen from the window to the world."

Earlier, Bahnken opened the second of two ammonia pipes to ensure refrigerant flow in the Tranquility walls, and disconnected temporary cables. Patrick installed heating and data cables for Tranquility.

The spacewalkers also installed railings on Tranquility's exterior, and repositioned footrests. Yes, they closed a camera shutter at the top of the hall, and routed video signal transducer cables through a device known as the rat's nest - a combination of cables and connections in the S0 component, to the Zarya component. These cables will help the Canadian robotic arm of the station also operate from the Russian part of the station.

Later, the astronauts could enjoy the view, tomorrow they have another day of work, and on Friday the members of the Endeavor team will leave the space station for a landing on Sunday in Florida.