Satellites Mating Via Robotic Arm

Roland Piquepaille writes "The launch of the Orbital Express mission, with its two satellites ASTRO and NextSat, the first one servicing the other, was widely covered a month ago. But what is happening in space now? In 'Robotic satellite servicer rehearsal underway in orbit,' Spaceflight Now reports about the progress done. A week ago, the two satellites were able to link to each other to operate the first transfer of hydrazine fuel from ASTRO's propellant tanks into NextSat. This weekend, ASTRO's ten-foot-long robotic arm is going to be used to move objects to NextSat. But what does it mean for international satellite operators when they need help with their space birds? Will they use a system designed for U.S.'s DARPA? "

Comments

Re:rule 34

[Anonymous Coward]

For people wondering: Rules of Internet
That has rule 34 written all over.

Re:wrong metaphor

[MBCook]

Check out the entry on Dictionary.com. If you look under verb, the entry numbered 15 says:

15. to connect or link: a telephone system mated to a computerized information service.

It is a perfectly valid use, and not a metaphor. That said... you can see what people here at /. are think about when the word "mating" is used.

WARNING: Parent link NSFW

[frazzydee]

Link in parent NSFW (contains hentai).

The rule is: "Rule 34: If it exists there is porn of it. No exceptions."