| on 28-06-2008 17:46 |
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A Japanese-built robotic arm has been unfolded on the International Space Station (ISS).
The 10m-long (33ft) crane is part of the Kibo laboratory, which
was built in Japan and installed aboard the ISS during the latest
shuttle mission.
Next year, Nasa plans to launch an outdoor platform with telescopes and experiments that will extend Kibo.
The robot arm will be used to tend that equipment, saving the time, cost and risk of spacewalks by astronauts.
The arm was unfurled by Japanese shuttle astronaut Akihiko Hoshide on Monday.
"Good job," Japan's new mission control centre told Mr Hoshide,
as he unfurled the arm for the first time from a control station inside
Kibo.
The shuttle Discovery is approaching the end of its nine-day
stay at the space station. Hatches connecting the ISS to the shuttle
are due to be closed off on Tueday, with departure scheduled for
Wednesday.
On Sunday, astronauts Michael Fossum and Ronald Garan completed
the mission's third and final spacewalk on the orbiting outpost,
replacing an empty gas tank and collecting a sample of dusty debris
from a rotating joint on one of the station's solar panel units.
Nasa is hoping the debris will give it clues about why another joint is malfunctioning.
Last update: 28-06-2008 17:57
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