Space robot to practice refueling satellites

The Robotic Refueling Mission flying aboard the space shuttle Atlantis will use the International Space Station's Dextre robot to test tools for refueling and repairing existing satellites, none of which were designed with reuse in mind.

"I've likened it to a Fisher-Price play toy for a robot, and I don't mean that in a negative sense," Atlantis commander Chris Ferguson said in a preflight interview.

Ferguson and three crewmates arrived at the space station on Sunday to deliver a year's worth of food, clothing and other supplies. The mission is the 135th and final flight in the 30-year-old shuttle program, which is ending due to high costs.

NASA hired two firms, Space Exploration Technologies and Orbital Sciences Corp, to deliver cargo to the station beginning next year. The Obama administration wants NASA to buy rides for its astronauts as well, though no commercial suppliers are expected to be available until around 2015. In the meantime, the United States will pay Russia for space taxi flights, at a cost of more than $50 million a seat.

The $22.6 million Robotic Refueling Mission equipment is scheduled to be installed to the outside of the space station during a 6.5-hour spacewalk on Tuesday.