KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — The space shuttle Discovery's astronauts Friday tested a new robot arm, a 5-foot Japanese wonder intended for precision work on the future space station.
The satellite released by the crew, meanwhile, began gathering data on Earth's ozone layer.
Astronauts Jan Davis and Stephen Robinson spent much of their second day in orbit flexing the new $100-million arm. It was a slow process with some mistakes; NASA said that's to be expected in a space debut.
During the next few days, the two crew members hope to unlock, open and close a small door out in the cargo bay using the jointed, remote-controlled arm, which has three so-called fingers. They also will try to loosen bolts with the device and lift a 1 1/2-foot box.
It's a prototype of what the Japanese space agency hopes to fly on the planned international space station.
Shuttle commander Curtis Brown Jr. said such a tool could reach small payloads outside the space station and bring them inside, eliminating the need for a time-consuming spacewalk by astronauts.