There appears to be an arms race underway between China and the Western world. Not the military
weapons of mass destruction, but these are robotic arms designed to perform various functions on the
two space stations currently orbiting earth. A new European robotic arm is set to arrive
at the international space station on July 21st. Given the timing of its arrival, it’s inevitably
drawn comparison with the robotic arm on the Chinese space station’s core module Tianhe.
Let’s take a good look at both. We’ll start with the Chinese robotic arm first.
The Chinese Robotic Arm is installed at the back of Tianhe core module,
to inspect the docking ports, and plays an important role in performing several tasks.
The arm will be used to capture incoming spacecraft docking with Tianhe, to move the
payloads and support astronauts during spacewalks. The 15-metre-long arm attached to the core module
of the Tiangong space station is capable of lifting objects weighing 25 metric tons.
The Chinese robotic arm has sparked concerns in the U.S. over its possible military application
such as grabbing other satellites. The arm is self-relocatable and can reach
many parts of the Tianhe module through an inchworm-like movement.
The arm is designed to connect additional modules to Tianhe to form the eventual Tiangong
space station, a bit like Canada's robotic arm, Canadarm, currently attached to ISS.
For comparison, Canadarm is 15.2 metres long, 15 inch in diameter and weighs 410 kilograms.
By docking with target adapters all over the body, the Chinese robotic arm can reach all
surfaces. It can also be operated by astronauts. Recently, the Chinese astronauts used
the 50-foot robotic arm to install cameras and other equipment during their first spacewalk.
Now lets’ take a look at The European Robotic Arm. Soon a piece of cutting edge European technology
will be delivered to the International Space Station.
ERA, short for European robotic arm, will be launched on a Proton rocket from the Baikonur
Cosmodrome, together with the Russian multipurpose laboratory module, Nauka.
This brand new Russian module will be ERA'S home base for the next 10 years.
The 11 meter long ERA arm, can lift up to 8 tons,
and be operated with an accuracy of an astonishing 5 millimeters.
One of the most impressive features of the robotic arm, is that it can move hand over
hand over the Russian module. With this freedom of motion
and well chosen location, ERA will be able to service the Russian segment of the space station,
which is not in reach of the other two robotic arms already installed.
ERA is fully programmable, and has several modes of automation.
This means each mission, can be prepared on the ground and then uploaded into the arms computer,
after which the astronauts on board can run and authorize each step of the mission.
Theoretically, ERA could even work autonomously, and run the mission all by itself.
It also offers the possibility for astronauts on board,
to piece together a new mission on the fly if necessary, the arm will have several
important applications to alleviate the work of the astronauts on the International Space Station.
As crew time is precious, and the safety of astronauts is paramount,
the arm can be used for tasks which are described as the 3Ds - dull, dangerous and difficult.
ERA has been specially designed for collaboration between man and machine.
The astronauts can even operate the arm from outside the space station
during spacewalks, using a remote control which has been optimized,
to be used by astronauts in bulky space suits. One of ERA’s first tasks will be to install the
radiator and airlock of the NAUKA module, so the laboratory can become operational.
And ERA can use this airlock, to move payloads from inside the station, to outside.
ERA is another example of cooperation between Europe and Russia, and attribute
to the excellence of European industry. Now the European robotic arm will fly
to the ISS and with it a new ERA dawns for the International Space Station, already,
one of humankind's greatest achievements. ERA offers a look into the future of space
robotics, and the cooperation between human and machine, as we further explore our universe.
Thanks for watching. Catch you in the next video.