14 DAY TRIAL // The Canadian Space Agency (CSA/ASC) has already begun research and development on a new generation of robotic arms, the kind of tools that deal with the heavy lifting aboard the ISS and all of NASA's space shuttles. The device, for which MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) has been already given some money, will ultimately be outfitted on the new Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle, developed by the American space agency to replace the soon-to-be-retired shuttle fleet.
Upon completion, the new arm will most likely be given freely to the United States, in exchange for a place on the Orion mission. In other words, the CSA simply wants one of its guys in space, or maybe even on the Moon. MDA officials, who made the announcement recently, didn't specify if they were interested in a certain mission, but simply asked for a place on one of them.
One of the Canadian space agency's main objectives is to increase its collaboration with NASA, as well as with the ESA European space agency and the Japanese one, JAXA. It is also looking to intensify its involvement in ongoing projects. That's why it has contracted MDA with 1.8 million Canadian dollars ($1.4 million) to lead the development of a Canadian-led robotic lunar module, as well as of the new, zero-gravity arm.
The company has already begun investigating the effects of zero gravity on robotic components, in hopes of developing a machine that could handle even the most complex tasks required by outer space assignments. “We're hoping it's the thin edge of a significant wedge as Canada moves more towards the next generation of its space exploration program,” MDA's robotics department Vice President Steve Oldham told Space on February 19th.
“For example, on Orion we've had meetings with NASA where we've sat down with them and said, 'What kind of robotic capability would [you] want on Orion' and they've said we want A, B and C. So that's what we're developing here. This is a part of a coordinated international activity,” he added.
“Canada used its contribution of robotic arms for the shuttle and the international space station in terms of a swap, if you will, of Canadian technology for the placing of Canadian astronauts on those missions. I think MDA is sending a clear message that if the Canadian government hasn't yet thought about such an arrangement to secure a place on an Orion mission, it should consider it now,” space advisor Anthony Salloum, who is working for the Ottawa think-tank Rideau Institute, pinpointed.