Spacewalkers to kit handyman robot with tools

NASA astronauts prepared for a spacewalk on Monday to outfit the International Space Station's new robotic handyman after tests showed it to be in good working order.

The Canadian-built robot dubbed "Dextre" and the storage closet for Japan's space lab were both delivered to the $100 billion station by the shuttle Endeavour, which arrived on Wednesday for a 12-day construction and maintenance mission.

Dextre, which resembles a stick-like humanoid figure with gangly 11-foot (3.4 meter) arms, can remove and replace station components such as depleted batteries and other tasks. NASA says the robot will save astronauts from much of the routine maintenance they currently do on arduous and potentially dangerous spacewalks, enabling them to devote more time to experiments and other scientific activities.

The robot's arms were installed on the mission's second spacewalk and were put through a trial workout on Sunday to test the brakes in the joints. All seemed to go smoothly though there was a small glitch with one of the brakes but it was not deemed to be serious.

The robot will now get fitted with a "tool belt," cameras and other accessories during the third of five spacewalks scheduled for this busy and grueling mission. Thermal blankets wrapped around parts of the robot will be removed. Astronauts Rick Linnehan and Robert Behnken will conduct the spacewalk. They were to "camp out" in the station's Quest Airlock to purge the nitrogen from their bodies before the activity.

The crews on Monday also continued outfitting the Japanese storage facility, transferring supplies and equipment into it from Endeavour. The Japanese lab, dubbed "Kibo" or "Hope", is to arrive in May with a final section to be delivered in 2009.