Associated Press Writer

Spacewalking astronauts added hands to a robot outside the international space station early Friday as experts on the ground devised a plan they hope will fix a problem getting power to the giant machine.

The Canadian robot, named Dextre, needs to have power to heat its joints, limbs and electronics. The $200 million machine designed to help maintain the orbiting outpost could be damaged if left cold for days.

Canadian engineers initially suspected the trouble could be with a timer, and they created the software patch to fix it.

But Pierre Jean, Canada's acting space station program manager, said experts now believe the problem stems from a design flaw in the temporary cable that is supposed to provide power to Dextre until it is fully assembled.

If that's the case, Jean said, Dextre should have no trouble powering up once the astronauts finish putting it together and install it on the station next week.

To be sure, the crew plans to hook up Dextre to the space station's robotic arm later Friday. If the problem is with the temporary cables, Dextre should receive power from the arm. If it doesn't, engineers will have to find another fix.

"I think at this point in time we're pretty confident that by 10 o'clock tonight we should have the answer to this particular question," Jean said.

In the worst case, spacewalking astronauts could go back out to disassemble Dextre and leave it in pieces at the space station. That way, the robot would not have to be heated.

The crew still ran the software patch to see if it helped, but it didn't.






Toward the end of their outing, the spacewalkers were treated to a stunning view of city lights in the midwestern United States, probably Chicago.



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