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STS049-91-026

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Three astronauts hold onto the 4.5-ton Intelsat VI satellite after a six-handed "capture" was made minutes earlier. Left to right are astronauts Richard J. Hieb, Thomas D. Akers and Pierre J. Thuot. Thuot stands on the end of the remote manipulator system arm, from which he had made two earlier unsuccessful grapple attempts on two-person extravehicular activity sessions. Ground controllers and crew members agreed that a third attempt, using three mission specialists in the cargo bay of the space shuttle Endeavour, was the effort needed to accomplish the capture feat.