Week In Space

Listen Now: thisweekinspace_030208.mp3

This week we take a look at the next shuttle mission. Endeavour is scheduled to launch on STS-123 March 11 on a flight to the International Space Station. This is one of the most exciting and complex shuttle flights to date. Endeavour will deliver the first module of the the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo laboratory to the space station and will also take up the Canadian-built Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator, Dextre, which will act like a remote-controlled hand for doing maintenance work on the station. The 16-day flight will be the longest shuttle flight to the station yet.

The Kibo laboratory, which will eventually  be berthed to the left side of the  station’s Harmony node, will consist of four segments.  The Japanese Experiment Logistics Module-Pressurized Section (ELM-PS), the smaller of two pressurized modules of Kibo, will be attached temporarily to a docking port on the space-facing side of Harmony. 

Kibo is the major Japanese contribution to the station, and will increase its research capability in a variety of disciplines.  The name, which means “hope,” was chosen by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in a national contest.

Dextre, the Canadian device, will work with the station’s robotic arm, Canadarm2.  Designed for station maintenance and service, Dextre is capable of sensing forces and movement of objects it is manipulating.  It can automatically compensate for those forces and movements to ensure an object is moved smoothly. Dextre is the final element of the Mobile Servicing System, part of Canada’s contribution to the station.  The name was chosen by Canadian students in a national contest.  Dextre had been called the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator.

Once assembled, Dextre will look a little like a human upper torso stick figure.  It will have two arms, and be capable of performing delicate tasks and using tools.  Its four cameras will give crew members inside the station views of its activities.  Dextre will be able to work from the end of Canadarm2, or from the orbiting laboratory’s mobile base system. 

For more information and complete mission coverage, visit http://www.spacearium.com