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Astronauts ready for third spacewalk to complete robot
Washington (AFP) March 17, 2008 US astronauts prepared to again venture outside the International Space Station Monday to finish assembling a Canadian mechanical maintenance robot named Dextre. Mission Specialists Rick Linnehan and Robert Behnken will spend most of the day "camping out" in the station's "Quest Airlock" to purge nitrogen from their bodies before they begin the third spacewalk of the mission that will begin at 7:23 pm (2323 GMT). Early Sunday, two US astronauts attached mechanical arms to the robot, enabling it to take over some human tasks and reducing the need for future risky trips outside the station. Their job got slightly complicated early in the seven-hour spacewalk when they encountered trouble unscrewing a couple of fasteners and removing one of Dextre's arms from its storage container. The problem was eventually resolved with the help of a simple crowbar. But as a result, the spacewalkers fell slightly behind their timeline. Linnehan and Mike Foreman, who arrived last week aboard shuttle Endeavour, recouped most of the lost time, performing their task using socket wrenches and drills to bolt the Dextre robot's two 11-foot (3.3 meter) arms. The hitch notwithstanding, astronaut Steve Robinson, monitoring the events from Mission Control in Houston, Texas, congratulated all involved. "You sure did a great job," he radioed. "You guys ought to be proud of yourselves." Pierre Jean, a program director from the Canadian Space Agency, echoed the view saying the crew did "a fantastic job." The 200-million-dollar robot, which was re-powered immediately after the walk, will be able to handle maintenance tasks that have been performed by spacewalkers, allowing astronauts to focus on research inside the orbiting outpost. "Dextre looks quite a bit different today," observed National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) flight director Dana Weigel. "It's almost fully assembled: It has two hands, two arms and the main body is pivoted up." Astronauts installed Europe's first space laboratory in a shuttle Atlantis mission last month and Endeavour's crew added the first of three parts of Japan's Kibo research facility this week. Dextre, sent up on Endeavour which is docked with the space station, is the third and final component of the Canadarm Remote Manipulator System, the robotic arm that is Canada's vital contribution to the station. The 1.56-tonne robot will conduct operations such as replacing small components on the station's exterior -- tasks which until now required a human touch. Its presence will boost crew safety by reducing the number of hours that astronauts will have to be outside the station, and allow them to focus on other tasks such as conducting scientific experiments in micro-gravity, according to the Canadian Space Agency. Dextre's two hands are each about the size of a small microwave oven. They are equipped with built-in socket wrenches, retractable claws used to grip objects, and remote-control high-resolution cameras. The robot's human-like upper torso swivels at the waist, and its arms were designed with seven joints to provide it with maximum versatility. Umbilical connectors provide power and data connectivity. With Dextre delivered to ISS in nine separate pieces, the astronauts will use three of the Endeavour mission's five spacewalks to get it up and running. Linnehan and fellow astronaut Garrett Reisman conducted the Endeavour mission's first spacewalk Friday to lay the groundwork for the robot's complicated assembly. NASA plans to finish building the International Space Station by 2010, at which time it will retire its three-shuttle fleet. Shuttle crew members also continued work putting together the first pressurized component of the newly delivered Japanese laboratory Kibo, the latest addition to the ISS. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Station at NASA Station and More at Roscosmos S.P. Korolev RSC Energia Watch NASA TV via Space.TV Space Station News at Space-Travel.Com
Spacewalkers begin Canadian robot assembly
Washington (AFP) March 15, 2008Two astronauts stepped outside the International Space Station Saturday to put together a Canadian-made robot that will take over human tasks and help reduce the need for risky spacewalks. |
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