An experiment riding on the final voyage of NASA’s space shuttle Atlantis is set to test out technologies that could be used on future robotic spacecraft.
The experiment, called the Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM), is a satellite mockup that Atlantis delivered to the International Space Station when it docked on Sunday (July 10). The experiment will be installed on the exterior of the outpost today (July 13) during a spacewalk conducted by two space station astronauts.
RRM will serve as a trial for the orbiting lab’s twin-armed Dextre robot, testing the ability to refuel and otherwise maintain a satellite in space.
Scientists will watch carefully how Dextre performs these tasks over the next two years. The information they gather could help pave the way for highly capable robotic mechanics that patrol Earth orbit, fixing or refueling satellites in space.
The dishwasher-size RRM box is full of knobs and nozzles similar to the ones found on actual satellites. The RRM payload also includes four specialized tools, which Dextre will use to manipulate these knobs and nozzles.
During today’s spacewalk, one of the two astronauts will affix the RRM box to the exterior of the space station. Dextre, which sits at the end of the station’s 57-foot-long (18-meter) Canadarm2 robotic arm, will move the box to its permanent location on the station’s truss. Then the robot’s dexterity test will begin. Such a complex robotic operation has never been demonstrated in space before, researchers said.
