Word: stinger
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...once and future fantasy, yet it aired on the evening news. A U.S. astronaut, looking like a modern knight-errant in shining space suit, sallies forth into the darkness, powered by a Buck Rogers backpack called an MMU (manned maneuvering unit). Armed with a space-age lance nicknamed the stinger, he spears a stray satellite and rockets back to the mother ship. There, silhouetted against the shimmering earth some 225 miles below, he spins along at 17,500 m.p.h., shouldering his prize like a sci-fi Atlas...
...Wednesday morning the other rogue canister was in view; an awestruck Gardner exclaimed, "Look at that satellite!" This time it was his turn to sail forth in the Buck Rogers backpack, his body silhouetted against the Gulf of Mexico. And when he, too, easily pierced Westar with his stinger, he radioed over to his partner, "Joe, it's just like you said...
...mounted on the arms of his backpack. An alternate technique worked, but the failed grappler plan had to be abandoned. In June, Astronaut Dale Gardner, who would be part of last week's mission, sketched out an alternative idea on the back of an envelope. The now famous stinger was born...
Solar Max had been built with retrieval in mind; it had a grappling pin in the middle of its belly. Palapa-B2 and Westar6 are of the old-fashioned expendable variety, with smooth sides and no handles. The stinger, measuring 64 in. and consisting of a pole mounted on a round base, solved the problem neatly. It would inject an expanding prong into the satellite's rear motor, locking on to it and providing a grip for the wrangler-astronauts. As Allen explained, "It's like opening an umbrella inside a chimney." In practice sessions Allen could...
...crew's involvement in mission planning was not limited to the stinger. Hauck suggested that the shuttle close to within 35 ft. of the satellites, instead of the 200-ft. distance maintained with Solar Max. The reason: to save the backpack's propulsion fuel. Meanwhile, ground controllers made plans to slow the satellites' spin from 22 to two rotations a minute. They prepared to send signals, putting the two satellites in the same orbital plane, 690 miles apart...