An autonomous robotic arm built by a consortium of European companies led by Airbus will soon fly to the ISS to integrate the Russian segment of the station.
The International Space Station already consists of two robotic arms:the Canadarm2 (seventeen meters long), recently hit by space debris, and the module's remote manipulation system of Japanese experimentation (ten meters long). These multi-hinged structures terminate in two identical "hands" at each end allowing station maintenance to be performed. Either end can be used as an anchor point, allowing the other to "work".
This flexibility allows these structures to be positioned anywhere around the American segment of the station. On the other hand, neither can reach the Russian segment . The situation will soon change with the dispatch on July 15 of a new European robotic arm (ERA), built by Airbus for the European Space Agency (ESA). The structure will take off with the new Russian multi-purpose module, known as Nauka (science in Russian).
This new arm is divided into two symmetrical parts, each measuring just over five meters in length. Made of aluminum and carbon fiber, it weighs only 630 kilograms. The ERA will also be able to move freely outside the station thanks to its two "hands" allowing it to attach itself around the structure. It will be able to move and install components weighing up to eight tons , and transport astronauts and cosmonauts on spacewalks as part of maintenance operations.
Finally, the arm can be controlled in real time from inside the space station or be pre-programmed to perform tasks independently. Equipped with an infrared camera, it will also be able to inspect the structure and components of the station, then broadcast the images to astronauts and cosmonauts inside the laboratory.
Regarding the new Nauka module, it will provide Russians with their first module dedicated primarily to research. The structure will also offer crew quarters and an airlock for scientific experiments. With a mass of approximately 24 metric tons, it is approximately20% larger than the largest Russian segment of the station, the Zvezda service module.
We could also wonder about the timing of this launch. Russia is preparing to launch its largest module as the country plans to leave the station by 2025 . According to Eric Berger of Ars Technica, some NASA officials have speculated that this could be an angle to obtain new funds from the United States.
Indeed, the American agency has not depended on the Russians for several months for its launches of astronauts to the ISS thanks to SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsules. However, seat rentals on Russian capsules over the past decade have been an important source of funding for Russia's space program.
Also note that the first elements of the International Space Station launched in 1998 were designed in such a way that the American and Russian segments were dependent on each other for the control of attitude, power and other critical resources. Specifically, NASA officials suspect that with the shipment of its new module, Russia may request additional "maintenance" funding from the United States.
