A Canadian robotic arm on the Worldwide Area Station is days from a giant milestone.
MDA Area’s Canadarm2 will rejoice its fiftieth cosmic catch no sooner than Aug. 5, when a Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo ship berths with the Worldwide Area Station (ISS) with hundreds of kilos of experiments, provides and meals for the Expedition 71 astronauts, the Canadian Area Company (CSA) announced right this moment (Aug. 2).
Cygnus will launch to the ISS no sooner than 11:29 a.m. EDT (0329 GMT) on Aug. 3, and you may watch the mission right here at Area.com, courtesy of NASA+, previously NASA Tv. If Cygnus launches on time, shall be captured by Canadarm2 and can dock with the ISS on Aug. 5 at roughly 3:55 a.m. EDT (0755 GMT). Protection will begin at 2:30 a.m. EDT (0630 GMT) on NASA+.
Canadarm2, managed by MDA Area underneath CSA funding, was first launched to area April 19, 2001 on area shuttle mission STS-100. Mission astronaut Chris Hadfield carried out the first-ever CSA spacewalks to put in the arm, a milestone celebrated by enjoying the Canadian nationwide anthem in area and jokingly referring to fellow spacewalker Scott Parazynski (of NASA) as “an honorary Canadian.”
The arm’s first spacecraft catch was on Sept. 17, 2009 when it captured Japan’s HTV-1 (“HTV”, a now-retired cargo spacecraft sequence, stood for H-II Switch Car). Within the 15 years since, spacecraft berthing with Canadarm2 ranged from SpaceX’s Cargo Dragon to Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus.
Canadarm2 varieties a part of a sequence of Canadian robotic arms primarily based on generations of telescoping tube know-how seen in area examples starting from extendable antennas to the Apollo program’s lunar legs, in accordance with “Canadarm and Collaboration” (Elizabeth Howell, ECW Press, 2020.)
Canadarm was first flown in area Nov. 12, 1981 throughout shuttle mission STS-2 with Spar Aerospace and Canada’s Nationwide Analysis Council (the federal government council that managed astronauts earlier than the CSA was shaped in 1989). Canadarm was used for spacewalking, a number of Hubble Area Telescope missions and a few impromptu maneuvers similar to knocking an ice plug off a frozen shuttle drain line, in accordance with NASA.
Canadarm’s success in area allowed the NRC, after which CSA, to pay for astronaut seats on the shuttle because the robotic arm offered a web profit to NASA actions in orbit. (The primary Canadian astronaut, then with NRC, was Marc Garneau aboard STS-41G in October 1983.) That astronaut association has continued to the current day, and can proceed with the long run Artemis program missions to the moon.
Associated: Artemis 2’s Canadian astronaut bought their moon mission seat with ‘potato salad’
MDA Area (then MDA) introduced the area robotics division of Spar Aerospace in 1999, according to the National Post. MDA Area’s Canadarm2 has been operational since 2001, starring in a difficult and near-emergency spacewalk by Parazynski in 2007 that noticed him mend a torn photo voltaic panel with tailored instruments.
Canadarm2 extra typically helped construct the ISS alongside Canadarm, and continues to characteristic in ISS upkeep spacewalks. A CSA-funded robotic helper by MDA Area, Dextre, launched in 2008 for extra delicate ISS upkeep duties.
Lately, the Canadarm2 staff has gained a lot belief with NASA that many duties are actually licensed to be carried out in floor management amenities at CSA headquarters close to Montreal, Quebec. And CSA was invited to affix Artemis in 2019 by supplying a brand new robotic arm, Canadarm3. MDA Area obtained a sequence of Canadarm3 contracts and is finalizing its design for an anticipated 2029 launch to help NASA’s Gateway area station on the moon.
NASA was stalwart in saying the CSA was identified for its dependable facet dish of robotics, Podwalski advised Area.com in 2023. Robotics is a strategic spend on the a part of an area company that has a tiny, $300 million ($413 million CAD) annual price range relative to NASA’s $25.4 billion in 2025. Other than area, robotics may also be repurposed for medical and mining wants in distant areas of Canada, making it another excuse to spend money on the know-how.
Canadarm3 funded CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen’s round-the-moon seat aboard the Artemis 2 mission, making him the primary Canadian to go away low Earth orbit. His 2025 mission with three NASA astronauts would be the first of an anticipated sequence of CSA Artemis missions to Gateway and maybe to the moon’s floor itself.
Ken Podwalski, CSA govt director of the Gateway program, has been commanding Canadian area robotics for many of his profession. He was concerned within the negotiations for Hansen’s seat, which took 4 years to acquire as each NASA and CSA coverage priorities needed to align on the matter, and funding to be obtained.
In an interview, Podwalski likened the CSA robotics to unimaginable “potato salad” created to enrich different fundamental dishes in a feast.
“Everyone expects Canada to deliver the potato salad,” Podwalksi advised Area.com 2023, shortly earlier than Hansen’s seat was introduced that April 3. And he stated it was attainable to construct up different moon applications from that: “The potato salad will get you within the door, no drawback […] and it does not cease you from bringing the rest. You are now part of the get together. Now’s a very good time to deliver up different issues.”
To make certain, CSA has different technique of funding past its annual price range: it companions with different Canadian authorities businesses and with business to stretch its {dollars} additional, for instance. It has additionally obtained repeated billion-dollar-scale infusions of one-time authorities funding for Artemis lately.
CSA’s different moon contracts embrace funding a mini-rover for science and utility rover for Artemis astronaut cargo, in addition to a sequence of moon-related applied sciences notably centered on moon science, astronaut well being and applicable deep-space meals.
