US astronauts begin spacewalk to install new docking port

America's return to manned spaceflight moved a step closer today as US astronauts installed a new'parking space' on the International Space Station. The two Americans, Jeffrey Williams and Kate Rubins, hooked up the docking port in just a few hours. SpaceX delivered this new gateway last month, packed in the trunk of a Dragon cargo capsule. NASA describes the gear as'a metaphorical gateway to a future' that will allow a new generation of US spacecraft - the first since the space shuttle program ended in 2011 - to carry astronauts to the space station. US astronaut Kate Rubins works on the docking port of the International Space Station.The adaptors will work with Boeing's CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX's Crew Dragon, two spaceships under construction that are planned to ferry astronauts to the space station.