Dextre

It was difficult to select from the available pictures. They are all so wonderfully sharp and amazing. But this one definitely stood out from the others. Nose to the earth and tail to the ISS. Wonderful overview of the belly of the orbiter. I believe this will be my new wallpaper...until another spectacular picture comes along. I change my wallpaper regularly during missions. There's just too many to select from. What I really should do is set my screen saver to do a slide show of all these great pictures.

Now, to the subject at, ahem, hand. Dextre. "Dextre is the third and final component of the Mobile Servicing System developed by Canada for the ISS. The two-armed Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator, known as "Dextre," complements the mobile base and the robotic arm Canadarm2 already installed and operating on the station. These make the MSS a vital tool for external station maintenance. With advanced stabilization and handling capabilities, Dextre can perform delicate human-scale tasks such as removing and replacing small exterior components. Operated by crew members inside the station or by flight controllers on the ground, it also is equipped with lights, video equipment, a stowage platform, and three robotic tools." Quoted from the STS-123 press kit at http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/216132main_sts123_press_kit_b.pdf

I really like to watch the post-MMT press briefings. (That is sarcasm by the way.) It really shows certain reporters at their worst. (My all time favorite, as of now, will be the previous mission when Hans Schlegel got ill and the media insisted on their right to know his private medical information.) Yesterday it was Dextre who was gifted with the attention. Dextre was attached to the POA on the ISS, which not only is its "end effector" so to speak but also where it receives power from the ISS. (ISS=International Space Station) However, when it was connected, no power flowed. After a work day of studying the problem the people who built it felt "very confident" that they understood the problem and had the fix, a software fix. But the media who cover NASA are confident of their ability to understand complex engineering scenarios simply because of their years covering the shuttle. And so they insist on questioning the decisions that trained and seasoned engineers have made. They also seem to have some sort of conspiracy minded idea that NASA is hiding information and not telling all. And so their usual practice is interrogation of the NASA spokesperson, asking the same questions over and over, but just rephrased. And there is a cadre who always ask questions even if there is nothing to ask. It might lead one to believe they meet to line up their questions and plan of attack, if one were conspiracy minded. I sometimes wonder just what it would take to satisfy them. No, I don't look at it as if they are doing their job. They are doing that but there is much more they are doing...that doesn't serve their primary function. I listen until I'm ready to throw something at the televison and then I turn it off. John Shannon always did well at dancing with the media. Looks like Leroy Cain is going to do equally well...although I sympathize with them both... Good luck guys.

In the meantime, there was a very sucessful first EVA (space walk), which seems to have gone mostly unnoticed because of the early morning hour and the huge coverage of a minor annoyance.

NASA keeps 'em flying.