The European Space Agency plan to send a fully programmable, autonomous robot to the International Space Station in July 2021. The European Robotic Arm (ERA) will serve the Russian segment of the ISS and will be utilised to support the astronauts in the maintenance of the Space Station.
The robot will be capable of transporting small payloads in and out of the Space Station and can even assist in transporting astronauts to their spacewalks! It will also carry four infrared cameras which will be useful in conducting regular inspections outside the ISS.
The arm consists of 2 wrists, 2 limbs, and an elbow. Both ends of the arm are capable of acting as a ‘hand’ for the robot through its’ end effectors.
The launch is scheduled for the 15th July 2021 which should see the ERA along with its’ home base, the Multipurpose Laboratory Module (‘Nauka’), dock on ISS on the 23rd July 2021.
It will not be alone as a robotic arm on the ISS, with the US module’s ‘Canadarm2’ and the Japanese module’s ‘Japanese Experiment Module Remote Manipulator System’ still in use in orbit. However, the ERA will be the only one that can operate on the Russian module of the Station.
Image Credit: ESA
Interesting things to note:
- It will be the first robot capable of ‘walking’ around the Russian segment of the ISS
- It has a length of over 11m; when outstretched, it could pass a football from the goalkeeper to the penalty spot!
- When outside the Space Station, the astronauts can control it from inside; either in real time or it can be preprogrammed
Reference:
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