Astronauts attach handyman robot arms

Two spacewalking astronauts attached 3.5-m arms to the international space station's huge new robot yesterday, preparing the giant machine for its handyman job on the orbital outpost.

The Canadian-built robot, named Dextre, will stand 4 meters and have a mass of 1,500 kg when it's fully assembled.

It is designed to assist spacewalking astronauts and possibly someday take over some of the tougher chores, like lugging around big replacement parts.