SCI FI to SCI FACT: Meet Dextre

Astronauts from the NASA Space Shuttle Endeavor will assemble the new two-armed robot dubbed Dextre for the International Space Station (ISS).

Shuttle Commander Dominic Gorie and pilot Gregory Johnson will be lending their expertise during the assembly process for the sci-fi styled space robot once the shuttle docks this week with the ISS.

Besides Dextre, the Endeavor will also be delivering the first section of Japan’s giant Kibo space station lab, a float-in closet for storing tools, more experiments and some much needed station spare and replacement parts.

Putting everything together will take about 16 days and five separate space walks. Both of these will be a record for the Shuttle service and the ISS.

Once all these pieces are in place this will be the first time since the station began construction that all five of the major international space station partner countries will have their own piece of the real estate conjoined in orbit around Earth.

Dextre was created by Canada’s Space Agency (CSA), just as the first single robotic arm was. The cost? $200 million (USD). However, Dextre will have two massive 11-foot arms, a shoulder span of nearly 8 feet and a height of 12 feet. It will also be much more manuverable with greater dexterity, thus the name, Dextre.

The human crew might feel a little intimidated by this monster. “…I’ll tell you something,” commented astronaut Garrett Reisman. “He’s enormous and to see him with his giant arms, it is a little scary. It’s a little monstrous, it is.”

Fortunately for the crew the only thing sci-fi about Dextre is his looks. He has limited memory
and can only do what humans program him into it.

Of course, all great sci-fi plots have an evil human programming robots to do things they were never created to do. But, this gizmo will actually be a savior for astronauts and take over the more dangerous aspects of work that was once reserved for long human space walks. It will be controlled by inhabitants of the space station while they are safely inside.

Dextre has the ability to pivot at its waist, and utilizes seven joints in each arm to be able to reach hard-to-get angles even a human would find difficult to reach in a cumbersome space suit with thick gloves at zero gravity. Its hands have gripping capability with built-in socket wrenches of all sizes, various cameras and lights that can be used for several projections by the astronaut manipulating the arms. Since only one arm moves at a time there is little concern over Dextre’s stability or the chance of a collision, either into the station or Dextre’s other arm. It’s called a he because of its masculine sounding name, but Dextre is headless, legless and definitely looks more like a robotic device than a human-looking cyborg.

In emergency situations Dextre can also be operated from NASA and CSA ground stations on Earth’s surface.

“It’s quite surprising what a robot like Dextre can do with its sense of touch and its precision,” said Daniel Rey, a Canadian Space Agency engineer who heads the project.