This is an online article from CCN.com from March 14, 2008. I couldn't find the author's name on the page.
Right now, one of the longer stays at the International Space Station is occuring. This stay and the spacewalk that is discussed in this article are important because of the fact that the Canadians that are up in space now are assembling a robot by the name of Dextre, 12 ft tall and weighing 3,400 lbs, that is intended to aid in the day to day maintenance and limit the time astronauts will have to be outside of the station. Dextre is having some trouble though, minus the fact that is wasn't finished yet. The robot need power to heat its joints, limbs, and electronics or it could be ruined. They believe that the problem is in a temporary cable that is suppling Dextre power and they hope that when the robot is completed and is no longer using temporary cables, that it will function fine. The worst case scenario; the $200 million robot will be disassembled and left in pieces at the Space Station.
After having my dad take me to several shuttle take offs and making me watch hours of the NASA channel, I found this srticle to be very interesting. The level of ingenuity and skill required to plan, develop and reconstruct this robot, capable of increasing the saftey of men and women astronauts from across the world is astounding. Dextre is remotly controlable from inside the Station and so he must have computer parts and I imagine that there is some sort of wired and wireless connection to the interior controls. There would be wires going through the body of the machine that allow the arms to me moved, the hands to grasp and there must be some way to look at what you are doing while controling the movements so there will also be some sort of optical technology involved. I think that in addition to the technological needs in the project, you can also think about the engeneering and aeronautical needs in this 'endeavor' ::wink:: (the US's shuttle Endeavor is at the Space Staion as well).
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I hope this is "Technology" enough for this assignment. If you have any imput, please let me know. I would like to have this be an easy and fun aspect of the course.
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