CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP):

Astronaut Randolph Bresnik jubilantly welcomed his new daughter into the world yesterday as he floated 220 miles (355 kilometres) above it.

Abigail Mae Bresnik was born as her father circled Earth on his first space shuttle mission, just hours after his first spacewalk.

It was only the second time in history that a NASA astronaut was in orbit instead of the delivery room.

"At 11:04 last night, Abigail Mae Bresnik joined the NASA family," Bresnik announced yesterday morning from the linked space shuttle Atlantis and International Space Station. "Mama and baby are doing very well."

It was the second child for Randolph and Rebecca Bresnik, who adopted a boy from Ukraine a year ago. Big brother Wyatt is now three and a half.

Bresnik, 42, a lieutenant colonel in the Marines and former fighter pilot, thanked everyone at Mission Control and elsewhere for their support, especially during the past few days.