Astronauts Retrieve Satellite Images of Sun

Two days after setting it free, space shuttle Discovery’s astronauts retrieved a satellite brimming with hundreds of blazing images of the sun Tuesday.

The smooth capture was a vindication of sorts for NASA, which botched an earlier attempt to use the satellite, Spartan, during a flight last year.

Shuttle commander Curtis Brown Jr. pulled up alongside Spartan, and Stephen Robinson slowly latched on to the 1 1/2-ton satellite with the shuttle robot arm as the spacecraft soared about 340 miles above South America.

The last time Spartan flew, last November, it tumbled out of control because of crew errors, and two spacewalking astronauts had to go out and haul it in. Not a single solar observation was obtained. Engineers revamped Spartan’s software and improved crew training.

This time, NASA expects about 1,400 images of the sun’s outer atmosphere, or corona, and the charged particles streaming off the sun’s surface. About 500 images already have been beamed to ground controllers, including high-quality pictures of at least one solar flare.

There was no immediate word on whether Sen. John Glenn broke away from his geriatric research to watch the capture. On Sunday, he peered over his crew mates’ shoulders with boyish delight when Spartan was released from the shuttle.

“To be up here and see a satellite launched from a satellite is quite an experience,” the 77-year-old Ohio senator said.

Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth and now the oldest, on Tuesday had more blood drawn and popped another amino acid pill for an experiment involving muscle protein. He also wrapped up the second of four wired-up sleep sessions and collected more of his urine for analysis back on Earth.