Space shuttle Discovery’s astronauts deftly snagged a satellite loaded with valuable data about the Earth’s ozone layer Saturday, accomplishing their final objective in orbit.
Scientists at the Kennedy Space Center cheered and congratulated one another once the satellite was back on board.
“Great job, Discovery,” said Mission Control in Houston.
The crew of six is due back Monday with the satellite.
Nine days after releasing it to measure atmospheric gases, the astronauts closed in on the satellite using the same kind of approach that will be needed for the future space station. Payload commander Jan Davis then slowly reached out with Discovery’s 50-foot robot arm and grabbed the probe as the spacecraft sped 180 miles above the Pacific Ocean just north of New Zealand.
During its free flight, the German-built satellite collected enough data to fill nearly a half-ton of computer disks, said Robert Conway, a Naval Research Laboratory scientist in charge of its ultraviolet telescope.
