Word: solarized
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These daredevil exercises were a rehearsal for Challenger's April voyage, when its crew will try to recover and repair a $150 million scientific satellite called Solar Max (for Solar Maximum Mission), which was launched in February 1980, at the approaching peak of the solar cycle, to gather information on the effects of the sun's activities on the earth. The robot observatory has been crippled for the past three years because of a minor electrical problem. Flying to the satellite with his manned maneuvering unit (MMU), an astronaut will attach himself to the ailing bird. Then...
...their second space walks two days later, the astronauts were scheduled to enact a dry run of one key part of April's mission: halting Solar Max's spin. But the gremlins that had been so disastrous earlier in the flight struck once more. The astronauts discovered that the shuttle's trusty triple-jointed arm had mysteriously developed a machine's equivalent of arthritis. It could not adequately move its "wrist." The problem effectively scuttled the plan to lift SPAS out of the cargo bay and rotate it slowly in space...
...McCandless II, 46, and Robert Stewart, 41, both of whom are making their initial shuttle trips, will be rehearsing the first repair of a satellite in orbit. That is slated to take place in April, when astronauts attempt to retrieve and revive a $150 million robot scientific observatory nicknamed Solar Max, which has been spinning helplessly since it broke down three years ago. If this tinkering succeeds, it could pave the way for even more ambitious efforts, including the assembly of President Reagan's proposed space station...
...game of tag with a 6½-ft.-diameter Mylar balloon. As the sphere drifts as far as 120 miles away, the crew will use radar and optical tracking to find their way back to it. The maneuvers are a rehearsal for April's retrieval of Solar...
...cargo bay. If the MMU'S thrusters fail, a stranded astronaut could be rescued by his partner or even the shuttle. No tethers are used during the lengthy, complex sorties because an astronaut might become tangled in a line. During the space walks, the astronauts will practice snaring Solar Max by hooking themselves onto the SPAS. But this is not as easy as it sounds. In zero-g, obtaining leverage is exasperatingly difficult. For example, in using a screwdriver, an astronaut is as likely to twist as the screw. While they are working on SPAS, the astronauts will hook...