U.S. Astronaut Takes Over at Space Station

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. —  An American astronaut formally took charge of the international space station Friday, succeeding a Russian cosmonaut who said he was going to miss his “space house.”

“We were so happy to live here, to work here,” Valery Korzun said in a change-of-command ceremony full of naval tradition.

Korzun said it was a sad time for him and his two crewmates, who will depart aboard shuttle Endeavour on Monday after a six-month stay. “We will miss our space house,” he said, adding that they tried their best to improve it.

With that, Korzun told his replacement, Kenneth Bowersox: “I am ready to be relieved.”

Korzun moved into the space station June 7, along with American Peggy Whitson and Russian Sergei Treschev. They moved out Monday night, shortly after Endeavour arrived with their replacements.

“We really did have a good time,” Whitson said at a news conference Friday evening. “I can very easily say without lying in the slightest that it really was a blast being here and I am ready to come back.”

A month ago, Whitson wasn’t quite ready to leave, but she gradually came around. “My husband reminded me that it’s much better to leave while you still want to stay than the other way around,” she said.

Whitson said she can’t wait to eat something that does not come in a bag. She’s already put in an order at NASA crew quarters for “a nice steak with a Caesar salad with tons of garlic in it.” She’s also looking forward to weeding her garden back home in Houston.

Bowersox, a Navy captain, said the departing crew set a standard that will be difficult to match. He will remain on board until at least March with American Donald Pettit and Russian Nikolai Budarin. They are the sixth team to occupy the orbiting outpost.

“I only hope that my crew, Don, Nikolai and I, will be able to work as well over the four or however many months we end up living on station, hopefully more than four,” Bowersox said with a laugh.

The commander of the docked shuttle, James Wetherbee, issued a challenge to the station’s new residents.

“Expedition 6, it is your duty to sail on and disappear over the horizon, but return after discovering new land and make the world a better place,” said Wetherbee, a Navy captain.

One more spacewalk is on tap before Endeavour pulls away Monday.

Saturday’s outing will be the third and final one for the shuttle crew and will wrap up work on the $390-million space station girder that was delivered and installed this week.