spacetoday.net: Railcar completes first tests on ISS

Posted: Tue, Apr 16, 2002, 9:01 AM ET (1301 GMT)
STS-110 image of railcar on ISS (NASA)

The crew of the International Space Station and STS-110 battled glitches during the first test of the Mobile Transporter on the S0 truss segment of the station Monday. The transporter moved a little over five meters down a rail on the truss segment initially, but a software problem kept the railcar from automatically latching into place. The railcar was latched using manual controls, and later in the day moved again, when the automatic latching system also failed. Engineers believe that microgravity is lifting the railcar off its tracks by a microscopic amount, confusing the sensors used to automatically latch the railcar. No other problems were reported during the test, and NASA believes that a minor software fix should fix the latching problem. The final spacewalk of the STS-110 mission is scheduled for Tuesday, when Jerry Ross and Lee Morin will install a ladder between the Unity airlock and S0 truss that was to be installed during the last spacewalk but was delayed when that EVA ran behind schedule. The two will also perform a number of miscellaneous tasks outside the station, including attaching shock absorbers to the Mobile Transporter.