This story was updated at 6:34 a.m. EDT.
HOUSTON — A new Japanese robotic arm
outside the International Space Station (ISS) is set to make a brief orbital
debut Saturday to set the stage for a spacewalk tomorrow.
The arm, a six-jointed limb folded
up over itself, is the external reach of Japan's $1 billion Kibo laboratory and
arrived with the tour
bus-sized module earlier this week aboard NASA's space shuttle Discovery.
Astronauts are expected to move the 33-foot
(10-meter) robotic arm just a bit this afternoon so spacewalkers will be
able to remove insulation covers and free restraints on Saturday that will
allow the arm to flex its full length during shakedown tests set for Monday.
"It will be pretty slight, you will
be able to see it," space station flight director Annette Hasbrook told
reporters late Friday here at NASA's Johnson Space Center.
But however small, today's planned
robotic arm twitch will make a bit of space history as the first time an
astronaut has wielded three separate robot arms in orbit.
NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg, the
chief robotic arm operator for Discovery's
STS-124 mission, has already commanded the shuttle's 50-foot (15-meter)
robotic arm and the space station's 57-foot (17-meter) powerhouse grapple that
has proven so handy for the outpost's orbital construction.
She will also wield Japan's new
robotic arm with Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, who Mission Control roused
this morning with the song "Taking Off" by the Japanese band Godaigo.
"Thanks for the song and thanks for
everyone who's supporting this mission," Hoshide said. "With your help, we're
taking off to the future with your hopes and dreams. Thanks a lot."
Science arm's small move
Kibo's robotic arm has a different
mission than its shuttle and station brethren, but the basics of its flight
resemble those of the shuttle and station limbs, Nyberg said.
"The three arms are similar in
theory and actually are basically the same mechanically," Nyberg said before
flight. "What I think is really neat is how they're used differently."
The shuttle's arm has been used to
handle cargo and - more recently -guide a 50-foot (15-meter) inspection pole on
detailed heat shield inspections, while the station's arm was specifically
designed to serve as a construction crane in space.
But Kibo's main Japanese arm is
designed primarily to manipulate small experiments. It weighs about 1,719 pounds
(780 kg) and can haul objects as massive as 15,432 pounds (7,000 kg).
Future astronauts are expected to
use the Japanese arm to grapple experiments from a
small airlock on Kibo and move them about a porch-like external platform
that is slated to launch toward the space station on a NASA shuttle next year.
A second, smaller arm will also be added later to aid the larger Kibo
limb's dexterity.
"The Japanese arm is going to be
used primarily for scientific research," said Nyberg, who became the 50th woman
ever to fly in space when Discovery launched on May 31. "They're pretty
similar, operated differently, but I think it's pretty neat what they're doing."
While
Nyberg and Hoshide move the arm, their crewmates will be busy outfitting a
vestibule that connects the 37-foot (11-meter) Kibo lab to its attic-like
storage module. Astronauts attached
the module to the roof of Kibo on Friday.
The spaceflyers are also scheduled
to discuss their orbital work with reporters and dignitaries in Japan among
their other tasks.
Engineers on Earth, meanwhile, are
expected to study images today of two heat shield panels along Discovery's
wings, where sensors designed to record debris strikes returned odd signals
earlier in the shuttle's flight. The signals aren't expected to pose a concern,
but engineers want to make sure.
Shuttle astronauts snapped about 50
high-resolution photographs of the panels and sent them back to Earth for
analysis.
Commanded by veteran shuttle flyer
Mark Kelly, Discovery's seven astronauts are in the middle of a planned 14-day
mission to install Japan's Kibo lab at the station and swap out a member of the
outpost's three-man crew. The shuttle is slated to cast off on Wednesday for a
planned June 14 landing in Florida.
NASA is broadcasting Discovery's STS-124 mission live on NASA TV on Saturday. Click here for SPACE.com's
shuttle mission updates and NASA TV feed.
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