NASA astronauts completed the last stage of its mission with the attachment of an extension boom to the International Space Station Friday. The addition of the vital component culminates twelve years of construction and cooperation between 15 countries.

The extension boom would be a permanent fixture at the space station and will assist in conducting future repairs, particularly in the hard-to-reach areas. The boom will allow the station’s 58-foot robot arm to stretch 108 feet. The $2 billion particle physics detector was attached to the station last week.

Astronaut Gregory Chamitoff said it was but fitting for Shuttle Endeavour to complete the construction as it was also the spacecraft that transported the astronauts who performed the first assembly in December 1998. Chamitoff and Astronaut Mike Fincke made the fourth and final spacewalk for the mission as the Endeavour crew returns to earth on June 1 to put an end to NASA’s second to the last shuttle mission. Atlantis is due to launch in July to deliver supplies.

All in all, it was the 164th spacewalk for shuttle astronauts dating back to 1983. Majority of them, 110 to be exact, were for the International Space Station, and 23 for the Hubble Space Telescope. The next spacewalks will be performed by station residents.

NASA managers gave clearance to Endeavour for an early Wednesday landing after a final analysis of 3D images showed no damage to the shuttle’s delicate heat shield. No other major US component will be delivered to the International Space Station, which still has about ten years of life remaining. All space shuttle missions were designed to fly big building components as well as smaller items. A storage closet was attached to the facility earlier this year.

With NASA’s role in the construction of the space station completed, the Russian Space Agency will attach an additional chamber in one to two years, a job that will entail several spacewalks. NASA will rely on the Russians to transport US astronauts to and from the orbiting lab until such time that private American companies are ready for the job.

Flight Director Derek Hassman said that there is still much to be done in operating the station and fill it with personnel. It has space for six full-time residents whose primary task is to conduct scientific experiments and help in understanding the requirements needed for longer expeditions.

To date, astronauts had logged in a total of 995 hours outside the station for doing assembly and maintenance work. Five hours into the 7 1/2 hour long spacewalk, Fincke and Chamitoff logged their 1,000th hour. Late Friday night, Fincke surpassed the record of Peggy Whitson, who spent 376 days, 17 hours, 22 minutes during two six month missions to the station. Fincke logged in 377 days on the same number and duration in the space station.

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