This amazing throwback photo shows STS-49 Mission Specialist Pierre Thuot perched on the end effector of the Robot Arm (Remote Manipulator System/RMS), with the Intelsat VI capture bar. This would be one of many attempts to "grapple" the Intelsat VI satellite which was rendered inoperative when its Payload Assist Module (PAM) motor failed to fire thus preventing it from reaching an operational altitude. The INTELSAT VI satellite, stranded in an unusable orbit since its launch aboard a Titan vehicle in March 1990, was eventually captured by crew members during an EVA and equipped with a new perigee kick motor. The satellite was subsequently released into orbit and the new motor fired to put the spacecraft into a geosynchronous orbit for operational use. Credit: NASA | May 13, 1992 #nasa #astronaut #eva #space #exploration #satellite #amazing #tbt