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 |  | Japan Starts Testing Robot Arm
By Kyodo International
posted: 10:20 am ET
23 May 2001
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TSUKUBA, Japan (Kyodo) -- The National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) on Wednesday began testing robot arms that will be used in Kibo, the Japanese experiment module of the International Space Station (ISS), NASDA officials said.
The tests of the 39-foot- (12-meter-) long robot arms began in NASDA's Tsukuba Space Center in Ibaraki Prefecture, northeast of Tokyo, with Koichi Wakata, a Japanese astronaut, participating.
The recently completed arms consist of a large arm with a small arm attached to its tip, the officials said.
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In the first day of testing, Wakata is expected to manipulate the small arm by remote control from an operations desk. He will move the arm slowly while confirming its position using a video camera attached to the arm.
Wakata, a mission specialist, took part in a mission of U.S. Space Shuttle Discovery and used robot arms in the building of the ISS last October.
NASDA plans to test the overall performance of the arms in two weeks.
The ISS, under construction in space, is a joint venture by 16 countries including Canada, Japan, Russia and the United States.
Located some 250 miles (400 kilometers) above Earth, the ISS will allow astronauts to live in space for long periods and conduct experiments and research. It is scheduled to be completed in 2006.
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