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Unscheduled Space Walkers Will Try to Rescue Satellite : ‘Fly Swatter’ to Be Used in Bid to Free Lever

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Times Science Writer

Two astronauts will go outside the space shuttle Discovery Tuesday to tape a homemade device made from plastic book covers to the end of the shuttle’s robotic arm in an effort to snare a jammed lever on a disabled satellite, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said today.

After the device, called a “fly swatter,” has been attached, astronauts Jeffrey A. Hoffman, 40, and S. David Griggs, 45, will retreat to the safety of the shuttle to clear the way for the rescue attempt on Wednesday.

Dr. Rhea Seddon, 37, the only woman in the seven-member crew, will drive the arm, gently laying the plastic device against the edge of the spinning satellite to snare the lever like a brass ring on a merry-go-round.

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If she is successful, the Discovery will have 45 minutes to get at least 20 miles away before the satellite’s rocket fires to send it on to its permanent orbit 22,300 miles above the Earth.

Engineers with NASA and Hughes Communications, Inc., which built and owns the satellite, developed the technique, which is designed to flip the lever and then break away without disturbing the seven-ton satellite. The satellite, called Leasat-3, is spinning at two revolutions per minute to maintain stability.

This will be the first time in the history of the shuttle program that astronauts have been sent outside the vehicle for an unscheduled space walk. Although both Griggs and Hoffman have been trained for that, they will be carrying out unrehearsed activities, an indication of the space agency’s determination to do something about a problem that really belongs to Hughes, not NASA.

The flight of the Discovery has been extended at least two days to make the rescue attempt possible. That would put the shuttle back at Kennedy Friday morning, but unless weather here improves dramatically, the landing will have to be at Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California instead.

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