APOD: The Astronaut Who Captured a Satellite (2010 Jan 11)

[APOD Robot]

The Astronaut Who Captured a Satellite

Explanation: In 1984, high above the Earth's surface, an astronaut captured a satellite. It was the second satellite captured that mission. Pictured above, astronaut Dale A. Gardner flies free using the Manned Maneuvering Unit and begins to attach a control device dubbed the Stinger to the rotating Westar 6 satellite. Communications satellite Westar 6 had suffered a rocket malfunction that left it unable to reach its intended high geosynchronous orbit. Both the previously caught Palapa B-2 satellite and the Westar 6 satellite were guided into the cargo bay of the Space Shuttle Discovery and returned to Earth. Westar 6 was subsequently refurbished and sold.

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[Bad Wolf]

Does anybody else think of Slim Pickens when seeing this picture??

[neufer]

Cash for Clunkers?

[NoelC]

What a nice laugh I had when I followed the "sold" link (last one in the text).

I can imagine that such technology is worth recovering. Gotta be a bit tough to take for people who worked for months (years?) to build it though, just to see it not achieve its goal.

-Noel

[orin stepanek]

Westar 6 was subsequently refurbished and sold

Why would anyone want to buy it? What good is it if you cant get it into it's orbit? Aw well at least selling it gave some loot back into Uncle Sam's pocket.