Space Station Robot Completed And Ready for Action
by Liam Bailey
2008-03-18 21:10:00 **news**
Tuesday March 18 saw the rebuilding completed of Dextre, the $200billion robot designed by the Canadian Space agency, before being stripped down for transport to the space station currently orbiting the earth. It had a rocky start when a change in its positioning on the space station, without changing the design of the cable track, led to the cable failing to power the robot. The problem was fixed by attaching the space stations mechanical grab to Dextre and using it to power the robot. The 12 foot tall, 30 foot across robot will now undergo tests to ensure it is in full working order, and then wait for its first assignment. Since the early hiccup the operation has gone like clock-work, according to NASA spokesman Allard Beutel, who added: "It's great to have it up there. No matter how much you test on the ground, you're going to have hiccups and you have to deal with it in space. We're learning how to work and build stuff in space. This is what we need to learn."
The robot is expected to take on most of the work on the developing space-station's exterior, reducing the need for dangerous space-walks by the astronauts. Apparently Dextre can work proficiently with objects as big as a phone-booth and as small as a phone book. March 18 saw the current mission's final space-walk out to Dextre, and astronauts attaching a 1 square foot camera, on a 3 foot outrigger attached to Dextre's hip. The camera will be one of five in total, one on its foot, one on both grippers and one on each hip.
Dextre is a truly amazing feat of engineering. Perhaps the most amazing thing is that the 3,400lb robot was never fully assembled on earth, because the robot would have been crushed by its own weight, so the first time it is assembled is when it is orbiting miles above the earth, moving at 15,700MPH. But assembled it is, complete with a tool-belt and ready for action.
