Crew Applauds Debut of Space Station’s Robot Arm

With astronauts at the controls, the international space station’s new 58-foot robot arm took its first baby step Monday, lifting one hand and putting it down 24 feet away.

“Congratulations. You’ve just added a new part of the station,” radioed Mission Control.

“We’ve got a lot of excited people up here,” replied space station astronaut Susan Helms.

Because of a series of tests, it took three hours for the arm--a high-tech construction crane with a hand on each end--to complete its first inchworm-like step. With one hand holding on, the hand at the other end released a temporary handle on the space station and eventually plugged itself into a socket 24 feet away.

The arm completed all of its tests.

“This was one of those linchpins that had to work, and it looks like it’s going to work,” said space station resident Jim Voss. “We’re looking forward to using it to keep building the station.”

“It’s one heck of an inchworm,” Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield said. “It’s strong enough to grab the shuttle and move it around.”

The arm’s first workout got underway as soon as all the hatches were opened between space shuttle Endeavour and space station Alpha, allowing the two crews to meet face to face for the first time since Endeavour arrived Saturday.

The 10 space travelers--seven on Endeavour and three on Alpha--greeted one another with warm embraces.

In other action 240 miles up, the shuttle astronauts attached the Italian-built Raffaello cargo carrier to the station. Once all the supplies it carried are unloaded, the carrier will be filled with trash and returned to Endeavour for the ride home.