Space Robot Taking Shape

Astronauts began assembling a 12-foot robot named Dextre last night outside the international space station. The overnight spacewalking mission hit a slight glitch when the robot failed to power up, but NASA officials expect to resolve it soon, the Houston Chronicle reports. Spacewalks on Saturday and Monday will be needed to finish Dextre, who will then take over much of the space station's construction.

“We don't have our hair on fire, but we're working it," said a NASA spokesman. The robot’s Canadian design team is developing a software patch that should help the robot plug in. The astronauts also installed a Japanese stoarage module to the station, the first part of a new laboratory wing scheduled for completion in May. (More NASA stories.)