Roland Piquepaille writes, "The launch of the Orbital Express
mission, with its two satellites ASTRO and NextSat, the first one
servicing the other, was widely covered a month ago. But what is
happening in space now? In Robotic
satellite servicer rehearsal underway in orbit, Spaceflight Now
reports about the progress done. A week ago, the two satellites were
able to link to each other to operate the first transfer of hydrazine
fuel from ASTRO's propellant tanks into NextSat. This weekend, ASTRO's
ten-foot-long robotic arm is going to be used to move objects to
NextSat. But what does it mean for international satellite operators
when they need help with their space birds? Will they use a system
designed for U.S.'s DARPA? We'll see." For more details see Roland's blog or our previous story on the
ASTRO and NextSat autonomous repair robots.
Source: http://www.netchain.com
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