At a moment when the world is celebrating the historic lunar landing of Apollo 11, even the crew on the International Space Station found time to pay homage. But then, it’s back to work, as the astronauts continue with their busy schedule of construction and scientific work.
For the current mission, the astronauts count on a tireless partner: the robotic manipulator Canadarm 2. With space exploration at the center of earthlings’ attention, I thought it’d be great to learn more about this amazing space telemanipulator. And I couldn’t find a better person to talk to than Alexandre Grégoire-Rousseau, a mission planning engineer at the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
The goal of the current mission is, among other things, to install two Japanese modules to the ISS. This process will take 16 days and involve three robots: the Canadarm 2 on the ISS, its older brother Canadarm 1 on the Space Shuttle, and an arm on Kibo, one of the Japanese modules. A true robotic ballet in outer space!
See my full article on IEEE Spectrum Automaton.