DEXTRE

[JonClarke]

Does any one know how much use the DEXTRE robot has seen since it was assembled almost 2 years ago?

 

[bushwhacker]

Honestly JonClarke, I cant remember any artical of it being used at all. I'm sure its been tested.

 

[JonClarke]

Honestly JonClarke, I cant remember any artical of it being used at all. I'm sure its been tested.

I have seen a photo showing that it had been moved, but nothing about it actually being used. It was supposed to save many EVAs. Since it has been completed there have been more than 30 EVAs. I wonder how many it has actually saved?

 

[MeteorWayne]

I thought I read that it was used during one of the EVA's on this mission, which of course doesn't answer Jon's question of how many it saved...

 

[voyager4d]

Maby they have been waiting for the installation of the cupola to realy using DEXTRE.
Or maby it is just a natural part of normal operation, so they don't talk about it.
But realy strange that we havn't heared anything about it.

 

[voyager4d]

Found this news article, http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/missions/sts-123/news.asp, from 1 year ago, where DEXTRE was still undergoing testing.

So i properly havn't been doing much work yet.

 

[mainmind]

[being rumor and hearsay] The rumor mill suggested Houston (i.e. Mission Contron at JSC) doesn't like Dextre because of "not invented here" attitudes, cloaked with claims of it being unsafe. It did have problems initially, but there shouldn't be anything preventing it from being used if mission planners just decided they wanted it. [end rumor and hearsay]

However, Goddard is still continuing their robotic on-orbit servicing research. Now that Hubble is fixed (for the time being) they are focusing on other tasks, like refueling commercial satellites that only have launch-pad fill valves and other interfaces not designed for on-orbit tasks. Goddard is evaluating robotic systems for independent experiments, but also might use Dextre on the ISS if they can get a work panel up to it.

So hopefully, Dextre will get some use in the near future...

 

[halman]

I thought that DEXTRE was the International Space Station's robot arm, and that it get used frequently, especially on shuttle missions. I think that it is also used to support Extra-Vehicular Activities, when possible.

 

[mainmind]

I thought that DEXTRE was the International Space Station's robot arm, and that it get used frequently, especially on shuttle missions. I think that it is also used to support Extra-Vehicular Activities, when possible.

Dextre is a two-manipulator tele-op robot that can either be used at the end of the Station's long grapple arm (SRMS) or at independent positions attached to station. Some refer to it oddly as the CanadaHand, but if it were a hand, it'd have 6-degree-of-freedom fingers that could each use different tools. I think of it more as just another robot.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dextre

Here's something about Goddard's on-orbit robotic refueling plans:

NASA May Test Refueling Satellites On ISS

Jan 12, 2010
By Frank Morring, Jr.

Engineers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center are developing an in-orbit test bed to validate techniques for refueling satellites that weren’t designed to be refueled, using procedures growing out of the experience gained servicing the Hubble Space Telescope.

Preston Burch, the Hubble program manager, said Jan. 11 that the experiment would use the Canadian-built Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator, known as Dextre, to simulate cutting into a spacecraft’s insulation, tapping into its fuel plumbing, and refilling its tanks to extend its service life.

“We’ve already developed a prototype tool that’s pretty cool that can cut through the external skin or insulation on the satellite, snip the safety wire on the cap on the fuel valve, attach the hose and turn the valve and transfer the fuel into the vehicle,” Burch said. “We’re hoping to demonstrate that on the International Space Station.”

The work started with $20 million that Congress appropriated in Fiscal 2009 to capture the lessons learned from the five Hubble-servicing missions with spacewalking astronauts, and the planning that went into a robotic servicing mission that ultimately was dropped. Burch stressed that the appropriation doesn’t cover an actual flight test, which would involve attaching a test bed to the outside of the station and putting Dextre to work on it.

“This is being proposed,” Burch said. “We’re laying the groundwork for doing that in the future funding that we expect will be coming to this team.”

The Goddard team is also soliciting ideas from industry and space agencies worldwide on how to use in-space servicing to enable “previously impossible” missions like refueling satellites. Responses to a Dec. 8 request for information are due Jan 15, with a workshop planned next month to refine the effort.

The study, which was ordered by Congress in appropriating the $20 million, will gauge how robotic and human servicing can aid several notional missions in low Earth orbit, geostationary orbit and at the sun-Earth Lagrange points about 1 million miles from Earth. In addition to refueling spacecraft, possibilities include installing new instruments and assembling spacecraft too large to launch in one piece, Burch said.

A final report on study results is due on Capitol Hill in September.

Above from http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=space&id=news/asd/2010/01/12/01.xml

 

[Gravity_Ray]

I don't see DEXTRE being used much right now, especially if there is a space shuttle there. I suspect this robot will come into it's own once the shuttle missions end. At that point without the shuttle there for EVA support, it will make sense to use it for mundane tasks around the ISS rather than have an EVA with Orlan suites, or the US suites. Without shuttles going up there the consumables for the space suites will be more precious.

Also originally it was going to be used mostly with the science pallets on the truss to move science experiments around the pallets (ELC's and ESP's). The pallets are still getting installed (there are 3 more that need to go up IIRC) and the ones up there have more spare parts on them rather than space expriments.

I think it is just not needed yet. Honestly you guys are like a sewing circle with the rumor mongering.

 

[MeteorWayne]

I disagree about the sewing circle comment. I thought Jon asked a very interesting question, which is supported by the fact that no one has been able to find a good answer. I'm still looking, and haven't found squat.

If it's such an easy question, what's the answer???

 

[Woggles]

. I'm still looking, and haven't found squat.

Me either!!

Is there anyone from NASA here on the site that can get an answer for us?

 

[nimbus]

This was asked at least once before, months ago. No one had an answer back then either.

 

[EarthlingX]

It looks like science is not the only thing being neglected on the ISS ..

 

[MarkStanaway]

I too have not seen any reports of DEXTRE actually being used since it was installed with much fanfare a couple of years back.
It looks like a classic case of a great invention looking for an application.

 

[mainmind]

Another article has been published about Goddard's plans to use Dextre for refueling demonstrations:

http://news.discovery.com/space/robot-satellite-repair-nasa.html

 

[tanstaafl76]

I certainly hope they use the thing, considering it cost $200 million to build and $1.3 billion to get it there.

 

[DarkenedOne]

Guys Dextre was sent up there because NASA wanted to replace using astronauts for some of the routine maintenance that has to be done on the out side of the station.

There was a great deal of news about it when it was installed, but it is no longer new so it is no longer reported in the news. Routine maintenance usually does not make the news, so just because you do not hear of it more often does not mean it is not being used.

 

[EarthlingX]

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com : Big week for Dextre, as the Canadian robot begins operational service

July 20th, 2010

by Chris Bergin

Canada’s Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) robot “Dextre” is making himself useful on the International Space Station (ISS), as he prepares to swap out a failed RPCM (Remote Power Control Module) on the P1 Truss. Having conducted his induction training on Tuesday, Dextre will clock in for work on Wednesday.

 

[Woggles]

It's nice to see the little guy is getting down to work!

 

[EarthlingX]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OR2kHTYGHw[/youtube]

 

[JonClarke]

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com : Big week for Dextre, as the Canadian robot begins operational service

July 20th, 2010

by Chris Bergin

Canada’s Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) robot “Dextre” is making himself useful on the International Space Station (ISS), as he prepares to swap out a failed RPCM (Remote Power Control Module) on the P1 Truss. Having conducted his induction training on Tuesday, Dextre will clock in for work on Wednesday.

About time too. It was supposed to replace between 25 and 50% of EVAs. Since it has been installed there have been 38 EVAs and it has been used once.

 

[EarthlingX]

www.spaceflightnow.com : Dextre's debut reset for January cargo mission

BY STEPHEN CLARK

Posted: September 14, 2010

The International Space Station's robotic handyman is standing down from a planned power controller swap to refocus on mandatory tasks during a Japanese cargo mission in January, according to the Canadian Space Agency.

File photo of Dextre. Credit: NASA

"Dextre's operations in the short-term are being refocused towards ensuring readiness for the upcoming HTV-2 mission, scheduled for January 2011," said Julie Simard, a Canadian Space Agency spokesperson.

The robot will pull a cargo container and a flex hose rotary coupler from the Japanese logistics freighter, which is scheduled to launch Jan. 20 and reach the complex a few days later.

Dextre's work is required for the H-2 Transfer Vehicle flight.

The space parts will be moved from the HTV to a stowage platform on the exterior of the station.

"In order to gain more familiarity with this type of operation prior to the mission, Dextre will rehearse the relocation of a similar component on the space station in December," Simard told Spaceflight Now.