Dextre robot

All reports suggest that the International Space Stations new robotic handyman will survive, and not freeze into a $209 million junk pile due to a power problem. Astronauts bypassed a faulty cable on Friday, and managed to get power to the robot arm, which will keep it warm, and ready for duty, in the deep cold of space.

The beloved Hubble Space Telescope may get a new lease on life after all. Late last summer, NASA nixed its controversial decision to retire the aging instrument and instead will consider asking Congress for roughly $1 billion to plan and launch a robotic repair mission by late 2007.


The leading contender for a Hubble house call: a 3,664-pound, two-armed robot named Dextre. The robot, made by MD Robotics in Brampton, Canada, is about