London, November 23 NASA officials have announced that an astronaut on the space shuttle Atlantis has become a father while in orbit, when his wife back on Earth gave birth to their baby daughter.

According to a report in the Telegraph, the astronaut in question is Randy Bresnik, who became a father for the second time when his wife, Rebbeca Burgin, gave birth.

"Abigail Mae Bresnik arrived at 12.04am Sunday, November 22," the US space agency said in a statement posted on its website, adding that mother and child are "doing well".

NASA said that it is the second time a baby has been born to a US astronaut during a space flight. n June 2004, astronaut Mike Fincke's daughter was born while he was aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

The happy news came on a relatively quiet day for the crews of both the International Space Station and the Atlantis shuttle, ahead of the third and final spacewalk on November 23.

Bresnik and fellow astronaut, Mike Foreman, on November 21, completed the second of their mission's three spacewalks to maintain and install more hi-tech gadgets as they work to complete construction of the International Space Station. (ANI)