A massive robot and Japan's
first room in space are set for delivery to the International Space Station
(ISS) next week aboard NASA's space shuttle Endeavour.
Canada's two-armed
robot, named Dextre for its nimble capabilities, should give astronauts a
break from basic repair and maintenance tasks outside of the growing space
station. The Japanese Logistics Pressurized (JLP) Module marks the first of
three components for that nation's massive Kibo science lab.
"This flight will be a
monumental flight for Japan," said Tetsuro Yokoyama, operations project
deputy manager for Kibo, during a press briefing at Johnson Space Center this
week. "We are very close to a long-awaited moment."
The seven-astronaut STS-123
space shuttle crew, led by commander Dominic Gorie, is slated to launch at 2:28
a.m. EDT (0628 GMT) on March 11 aboard Endeavour. The crew aims to install
Japan's new orbital room in a temporary position on March 14, then begin
Dextre's assembly on March 15.
Meet Dextre
To fit the Canadian Space
Agency's $209-million, 3,440-pound (1,560-kilogram) robot into Endeavour's
payload bay, engineers crafted it into large chunks that spacewalking
astronauts could assemble outside of the ISS.
Once astronauts latch each
piece in place and attach it to a mobile platform on the
space station, Dextre will be able to do many standard tasks with an
astronaut or earthbound operators at its controls.
"He's got huge arms,
kind of got like a head up there and a lower torso," said astronaut Rick
Linnehan, a mission specialist on the STS-123 mission, comparing it
"Gigantor," a famous cartoon robot. "It allows us to ... increase
the amount of robotics tasks we do up on station."
That's important, NASA
officials have said, because spacewalking is risky business for astronauts. The
new robot is also expected to give space station crewmembers more time to focus
on science and other tasks, they added.
"It's sitting out
there in the harsh environment of space all the time, basically ready to
go," said Daniel Rey, manager for the Dextre project. "It doesn't
require any pre-breathe protocol and it doesn't require any cleanup. It's an
operational robot that's pushing the limits of what we can do in space today
with robotics."
Each of Dextre's seven-jointed
arms will possess a "hand" — an orbital replacement unit — backed
by a sensor sensitive to less than 1 pound (0.5 kilogram) of force, or about
the weight of a small water bottle. The device will use a suite of tools to
replace burned-out components outside the ISS, as well as assist spacewalkers
with their duties.
Space Closet
Japan's JLP module will
serve primarily as attic space for the three-part Kibo science laboratory when
it's finished some time in 2009. Initially, however, the 9.2-ton cylindrical
room will be used to ferry eight systems and science experiment racks to the
ISS.
"I feel it's a little
bit small inside," said Japanese astronaut Takao Doi, noting that the
module was slightly larger than a small
walk-in closet. "As you know this is a module for storage
purposes." Doi, an STS-123 mission specialist representing the Japan
Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), will deliver the new room to the ISS using
Endeavour's robotic arm.
The module, to be followed
by a "back porch" exposed to space and a school bus-sized science
lab, is part of Japan's 680 billion yen ($6.6 billion) space station science
initiative, JAXA officials have said.
Aside from Dextre and
Japan's module, Endeavour will carry experiments to Europe's Columbus
laboratory module, as well as a testbed to demonstrate a repair method to fix
chinked heat-resistant tiles on a shuttle's heat shield. NASA is also sending
up RIGEX — short for Rigidizable Inflatable Get-Away-Special Experiment — that
is a small, automated experiment designed to test making inflatable structures
in orbit.
Gorie and his crew's
anticipated 16-day journey in space will be the longest
ever attempted for a space station assembly mission to date.
Editor's Note: This story has been updated to include the correct cost of the Dextre robot.
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