Endeavour astronauts begin spacewalk

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) -- A pair of astronauts have ventured out on the first spacewalk of Endeavour's space station mission despite a problem getting power to a giant robot that they needed to assemble. The trouble cropped up earlier in the day and had engineers scrambling for a solution as Richard Linnehan and Garrett Reisman floated outside Thursday evening to start putting together the Canadian robot, named Dextre, and help attach a Japanese storage compartment to the international space station. LeRoy Cain, chairman of the mission management team, said the power loss would not affect the spacewalkers' work to attach the robot's hands to its 11-foot arms. He said it's too soon to know whether the second spacewalk will be effected if the problem persists. Before the late-night linkup, Endeavour's commander, Dominic Gorie, guided the shuttle through a 360-degree backflip to allow for full photographic surveillance. It's one of the many safe