By KURT LOFT
The Tampa Tribune

CAPE CANAVERAL - After delivering a giant robot to the International Space Station, the crew of the shuttle Endeavour glided home Wednesday night to complete what NASA calls a near-perfect, by-the-book mission.

Endeavour touched down at 8:39 p.m. at Kennedy Space Center, 90 minutes after the agency postponed the first attempt because of clouds over the compound. On its second try, the shuttle flew just south of the Tampa Bay area, announcing its arrival with a pair of sonic booms along the path of descent.

The astronauts ended a 16-day, 6 million-mile venture to deliver the robot along with the Japanese Kibo science lab, the largest habitable part of the station. The additions not only expand the size of the station, but give NASA a novel way to maintain and repair it.

Named Dextre, the robot is built to survive brutal extremes of cold and heat and endure blasts of cosmic radiation, all while working on the most delicate tasks 250 miles above the Earth.

For NASA, Dextre takes pride of place as the world’s first servicing robot in orbit. The $200 million machine is designed for all sorts of jobs that would otherwise require astronauts in bulky spacesuits.

“It actually replaces the tasks that have been done by people, and we expect it to perform beyond our expectations,” said Alexander Gregorre-Rousseau, an engineer and mission planner with the Canadian Space Agency, which spent eight years designing and building Dextre.

Dextre acts as a giant space mechanic that can replace faulty instruments, move large pieces of cargo and make critical damage inspections. The robot is equipped with cameras, lights, sensors and power tools, and its 14 elbows allow it to work in contorted positions. Commands can be made by station astronauts as well as ground controllers.

Dextre also was made to survive the rigors of space, from solar eruptions to micro-meteorites.

“Right now, the whole assembly of the station has been done by astronauts,” Gregorre-Rousseau said. “And they’re exposed to a lot of risks with radiation. So having a robot do this is a great asset because it releases them from a great burden.”

The 3,400-pound robot – known as the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator – also is smart. It can compensate with counterforces to prevent damage to a payload or the station.

“So it’s very sensitive,” Gregorre-Rousseau added. “It can sense forces and adapt itself.”

The next shuttle mission is tentatively set for May 25, when Discovery will deliver another part of the giant Japanese Kibo science module to the station. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has scheduled six missions this year, and hopes to complete the station by the time it retires the shuttle fleet at the end of 2010.

Reporter Kurt Loft can be reached at (813) 259-7570 or kloft@tampatrib.com.