National News Wakata gets started on third space mission

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Astronaut Koichi Wakata got started on his third space mission March 16, using a robot arm he helped develop to inspect the exterior of the space shuttle Discovery.

Wakata, 45, maneuvering the arm from the shuttle's cabin, looked for damage that may have been caused during liftoff. NASA developed the robotic-arm extension after the 2003 destruction of space shuttle Columbia, which burned up during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven crew members.

Discovery lifted off March 15 from Florida's Kennedy Space Center on a mission to deliver the final set of solar panels needed to complete the International Space Station's complement of electricity-generating solar panels. (Kyodo News, AP)

若田さん、3度目の宇宙任務がスタート

スペースシャトル「ディスカバリー」に搭乗した宇宙飛行士の若田光一さんは3月16日、活動を開始した。

Shukan ST: March 27, 2009

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