41.   Under the conversion, which began last month and is to be completed next September, improvements like new mechanical systems and elevators and refurbished hallways are also planned.

42.   Until scientists are able to understand how mechanical systems behave when they are very small, they will have trouble building them.

43.   NASA thinks such structures will be cheaper, easier to use and more reliable than mechanical systems.

44.   Space controllers will not know whether the mechanical locking system worked correctly until about an hour and a half after the linkup, officials said.

45.   The company has a team of designers and engineers with specific skills in electronics and silicon chip design, mechanical systems, composite materials and structures and vehicles dynamics.