He walks briskly down the street. He balances a laptop computer in one hand. The other hand holds a little plastic box that's plugged into the laptop. It's an antenna.
NASA unfurled two solar wings on the new 17 1/2-ton addition to the international space station early Thursday after overcoming a software problem that delayed the maneuver for hours. As they opened separately like accordion window blinds, the solar wings looked like cosmic blankets of gold bars in the reflection of an orbital sunrise.
Forget paint samples swabbed all over your walls and swatches of cloth pinned to your furniture. If you really want to see how a color or fabric -- not to mention countertop, curtain, carpet or tile -- could look in your house, head to your computer, where free online design tools are taking the guesswork out of redecorating for do-it-yourselfers.
