SPACE NEWS
March 12, 2008
A Walk in Space
Endeavour astronauts make additions to the International Space Station
Early Friday, a pair of spacewalking astronauts gave the International Space Station (ISS) a hand—two of them, actually. Astronauts Richard Linnehan and Garrett Reisman added hands to Dextre, a Canadian robot that will help to keep the ISS in shape.
 |  NASA TV/AP A section of Kibo laboratory is lifted from the space shuttle, with a view of Earth in the background. |
Dextre is Canada’s giant $200-million contribution to the space lab in the sky. The two-armed robotic system weighs 3,400 pounds and is 12 feet high. The robot will use its hands and 11-foot arms to help maintain the ISS, eventually lessening the amount of time astronauts spend performing routine chores on spacewalks.
While Linnehan and Reisman worked in space, engineers on the ground scrambled to fix a problem getting power to the robot. Power is needed to heat Dextre’s joints, limbs and all electronics, which could be damaged if left cold for days.
A New CrewmemberDextre traveled to the ISS on the space shuttle Endeavour. The shuttle carried seven astronauts as well as the huge robot, in nine pieces. The flight lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida last Tuesday morning, while it was still dark. It was the first nighttime launch in two years.
Assembling Dextre is just one task during Endeavour’s mission. While Linnehan and Reisman worked on Dextre, other astronauts started to attach the first of three sections of Japan’s Kibo laboratory. The addition of Kibo is historic. Until now, Japan had not been part of the ISS. The country now joins the United States, Russia, Canada and 11 members of the European Space Agency aboard the space station.
Japanese space officials at Mission Control, in Houston, Texas, cheered as they watched the first piece being attached. Kibo, which means hope, has been in development for 20 years. Once completed, the $2.4 billion lab will dramatically increase the research capabilities of the ISS.
Rewarding Work
The Endeavour crew is scheduled to make five spacewalks, the most ever planned for one shuttle mission. In addition to installing Kibo and Dextre, the crew will also try new tools and techniques for repairing tiles from the shuttle’s heating shield.
Canadian officials weren’t too concerned about powering up Dextre. “We’re pretty confident that we should have the answer to this particular question,” said Pierre Jean, Canada’s acting space station program manager. Endeavor astronauts got another piece of good news: An object that appeared to hit the shuttle’s nose on liftoff did not. The shuttle’s heating shield looks to be in good shape for its return to Earth in two weeks.
This gave the astronauts reason to relax, and enjoy the view. Toward the end of their spacewalk, Linnehan and Reisman got a stunning look at city lights in the Midwestern United States, probably Chicago. “Oh, wow. Wow. Wow. Wow,” Linnehan said. “It’s a pretty amazing view.”
