NASA’s plan to build stuff in space just took its first step
The SPIDER robotic arm (white) will put together a large antenna. (Maxar Technologies/)Wherever humans go, they build. Civilization blossomed from clusters of homes and paths, and has more recently swelled to include skyscrapers, power lines, plumbing, and cell towers. And if it is ever to grow beyond the planet, engineers will have to figure out how to build there too. Designers have long dreamt of the intricate telescopes and roomy hotels they could construct with the equivalent of space-cranes and space-bricks, but—with the exception of the International Space Station (ISS) and the Hubble Space Telescope—every piece of hardware in orbit was built on Earth and crammed whole into a rocket for transport. Now, NASA is encouraging companies to take the first steps toward assembling more complex machines while zipping around the planet in orbit. Last week it announced a $142 million contract to Maxar Technologies to include a robotic arm...