by KYW's Michelle Durham
Use of the robotic arm is a crucial skill for astronauts to learn, whether for removing a payload from the shuttle's storage area or taking a telescope out of orbit (below right).
It took 2½ years for Zach Drewry to be certified as a shuttle robotics instructor and flight controller.
Drewry says working with flight crews is the best part of his job:
"Well, when there is ops going on in space...it's kind of like showtime. Watching them do all the things you trained and practiced is kind of the payoff at the end."
Drewry showed me how to use the shuttle's robotic arm to capture the Hubble Telescope and bring it into the orbiter. Using a set of hand controllers you have to line up the target on a computer screen before you capture it.
(Drewry:) "Go up a little bit. Good... keep going..."
(Durham:) "Just trying not to over-correct..."
(Drewry:) "Exactly. You should be a crew member!"
(Durham:) "I'd like to! This is pretty much... should I move it?"
(Drewry:) "Yes -- keep going up until that green crosshair is way up here. Now, squeeze the bottom part of the trigger. You got it -- you captured it!"
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