Major Features and Tasks
The ERA has several interesting features. Most prominent are its ability to 'walk' around the exterior of the station under its own control, moving hand-over-hand between pre-fixed basepoints, and its ability to perform many tasks automatically or semi-automatically, thereby freeing its operators to do other work. Specific tasks of ERA include:
- Installation and deployment of solar arrays
- Replacement of solar arrays
- Inspection of the station
- Handling of (external) payloads
- Support of astronauts during space walks
The International Space Station already features two robotic arms, the first being the Canadarm2, but because of the different types of basepoints and payload mounting units, that arm cannot be used on the Russian segment of the ISS. The other arm is the Japanese Experiment Module Remote Manipulator System (JEM-RMS). Because all Russian and European spacecraft dock automatically there is no need to manipulate spacecraft on the Russian segment so the European arm is smaller and less powerful than Canadarm2.
Developed for the European Space Agency (ESA) by a number of European space companies, with Dutch Space as prime contractor and subcontractors in 8 countries, the robot arm will be launched by a Proton rocket, along with the MLM, in June 2013 to be put to work in space by the ISS crew. In 2010, a spare elbow joint for the arm was launched preemptively, attached to the Mini-Research Module 1 (MRM-1). This module will also serve as home base for ERA; originally, the arm was going to be attached to the Science Power Platform.
Read more about this topic: European Robotic Arm
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