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January 13, 1996
Web posted at: 10:58 a.m. EST
SPACE CENTER, Houston (CNN) --Astronauts aboard the space shuttle Endeavour completed the main job of their nine-day mission on Saturday by retrieving a 4-ton Japanese satellite.
The shuttle's capture of the satellite was temporarily thwarted by a couple of solar panels on the satellite that wouldn't stay in place.
The problem occurred when the two solar panels were retracted by Japanese officials as scheduled, but failed to lock in place. After about an hour of trying to latch the panels, and with the battery power of the satellite running low, Japanese officials decided to jettison them.
That cleared the way for commander Brian Duffy to steer Endeavour toward the satellite for the retrieve. Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata used Endeavour's 50-foot robot arm to grab the satellite and haul it into Endeavour's cargo bay.
"Koichi's got it, Houston."
-- Brian Duffy, NASA astronaut
"Nice job all around up there."
-- Mission Control
The maneuver was completed at 6:39 a.m. EST, an hour and a half later than scheduled.
The Japanese science satellite had been in orbit for the past 10 months. It contains a variety of instruments and experiments, such as an infrared telescope, a sensor used to monitor atomic particles, and an experiment involving fertilized newt eggs. Researchers plan to study the eggs as a possible protein source for astronauts on future flights.
With the satellite in tow, shuttle astronauts were free to focus on the rest of their busy schedule. A U.S. science satellite will be released Sunday for two days of experiments. On Monday and Wednesday, astronauts will conduct space walks to practice techniques that will be needed to build an international space station.
The shuttle is scheduled to land January 20 in Florida.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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