ESA to Launch Robotic Arm to the ISS

The European Space Agency (ESA) is currently in the process of reaffirming its important contribution to the International Space Station (ISS). Officials announce that when the space shuttle Atlantis launches this Friday, May 14, it will also deliver an important European-built instrument, in addition to science payloads, a new Russian-built module, and supplies. The ESA components will go into the European Robotic Arm (ERA), a high-tech, very advanced tool that will complement the operations of the extensively-used, 10-year-old Canadarm-2.

The Canadian instrument is already an iconic image associated with the ISS, having been used for a wide variety of applications. It played an instrumental part in assisting spacewalking astronauts from multiple missions in attaching, replacing, switching and changing bulky components on the outer hull of the station. It also came in handy, so to speak, when various modules and ammonia tanks had to be added to the orbital facility. It is safe to say that many of these assembly missions would have failed without it. What ERA brings extra is the ability to “walk” on the surface of the station, which means that crew members aboard will be able to use it anywhere they please.

“Already now more than a third of the pressurized Station elements are built and designed in Europe and European knowhow is keeping Station in operation. Launching the ERA spare arm is an important step in keeping the ability for demanding robotic operations in case of technical failures – these may happen during the prolonged life of the ISS,” explains the ESA Director of Human Spaceflight, Simonetta Di Pippo. The ERA will become the lab's second intelligent arm, when it finally arrives on the station, in 2012. Plans are to designate the Russian-built Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM) as its home base. However, it will not have a fixed base of operations, as it will move around a lot.

The amazing thing about ERA is its modus operandi. It features dexterous hands on both ends, joints, an elbow, and afferent electronics and control equipment. This means that it can attach one of its “palms” to the station, bring the other over it, affix it, and then separate the first one. By repeating the process, the robot basically moves on its own, in a hand-over-hand manner. Its motions can naturally be controlled by astronauts from within the ISS.