Canadarm 2, Maxar Technologies Inc., Richmond, Canada

As the crew of Expedition 34 prepare for rendezvous with SpaceX's Dragon, Chris Hadfield takes us to the Robotic Workstation where they will command Canadarm2 to capture and dock the cargo vehicle. Filmed from inside the cupola, we are privileged with an inside look at how Canadarm2 is operated. Credit: CSA/NASA

Capture of the Dragon occurred March 3, 2013 at 5:31 a.m. EST.

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Unveiling Ceremony of the New $5 and $10 Polymer Bank Notes

The $5 note features Canadarm2 and Dextre symbolizing Canada's continuing contribution to the international space program through robotics innovation. The theme of the new $10 note is the Canadian train representing Canada's great technical feat of linking its eastern and western frontiers by what was, at the time, the longest railway ever built.

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The Canadarm2 Boom B Camera Light Pan/tilt Assembly (CLPA) was producing a usable but hazy view with working lights, but could not be used for detailed inspections. The Mobile Base System (MBS) Mast CLPA has been unavailable since its failure in May 2012. The CLPA was removed from MBS Mast by EVA crew (July 2013) & returned to Earth on SpX-3 Dragon.

This video shows the Canadian-built Dextre robot remove the CLPA from the Canadarm2 and move it to the Mobile Base mast location. Then the crew inside the station mounts a new CLPA to the US-built JEM ORU Transfer Interface (JOTI) and sends it outside the ISS via the Japanese-built airlock.

Dextre then removes the camera from the JOTI and installs it on the Canadarm2, completing the ground controlled robotic repair operations.

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2015-05-26 - Here’s how Canadarm2 will move the Permanent Multipurpose Module aboard the International Space Station. Ground teams at the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and NASA will command the Canadian robotic arm to detach and relocate the module to make way for US commercial spacecraft that will begin ferrying astronauts to and from the space station in 2017.

This CSA animation was created in our training simulator (where astronauts and flight controllers learn to operate Canadarm2) to give you an idea of how the real operations will unfold. Because space robots move very slowly for safety reasons, this clip condenses a full day of robotics action into a one-minute video. (Animation credit: Canadian Space Agency)

Credit: Canadian Space Agency

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2015-12-04 - Computer-generated animation of Cygnus’s cosmic catch and the docking to the International Space Station by Canadarm2 (at an accelerated rate).

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2016-04-08 - The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) will be launched to the ISS aboard a SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft on April 8, 2016. Once it is attached to the International Space Station by Canadarm2, BEAM will expand in volume, enabling crew members to enter it to conduct periodic testing during a two-year period. If successful, this expandable technology could increase habitable area and lower costs for future space exploration missions. (Credit: Canadian Space Agency)

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2017-06-19 - Robotic experts from the Canadian Space Agency and NASA operated Canadarm2 and Dextre over the weekend to unload ROSA, the Roll-Out Solar Array, from Dragon’s cargo. The next steps will include maneuvering ROSA around to conduct a technology demonstration. (Credit: Canadian Space Agency)

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Tomorrow on the first spacewalk of Expedition 53, astronauts will install a new latching end effector on the International Space Station’s robotic arm, Canadarm2, to keep that invaluable piece of hardware ready to support the station’s continuing mission. Take a quick look back at the invaluable role played by the “big arm” in assembling the space station and keeping it flying.

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The SpaceX Dragon CRS-13 cargo spacecraft was captured with the International Space Station’s robotic Canadarm2 on 17 December 2017. The CRS-13 Dragon spacecraft was launched by SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, on 15 December 2017, at 15:36 UTC (10:36 EST). For SpaceX’s thirteenth Commercial Resupply Services mission (CRS-13), the Dragon spacecraft carries almost 2177 kilograms (4800 pounds) of supplies and payloads to the International Space Station. The Dragon spacecraft previously supported the CRS-6 mission in April 2015.

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Outside the International Space Station, Expedition 54 Flight Engineers Mark Vande Hei and Scott Tingle of NASA conducted the first spacewalk this year Jan. 23 to replace a degraded latching end effector (LEE) on one end of the Canadarm2 robotic arm. There are two redundant end effectors on each end of the arm used to grapple visiting vehicles and components during a variety of operational activities. The spacewalk was the 206th in support of space station assembly and maintenance, the third in Vande Hei’s career and the first for Tingle. Vande Hei will venture outside the station again Jan. 29 with Flight Engineer Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to stow a spare latching end effector removed from the robotic arm last October on to the station’s mobile base system rail car for future use.

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Outside the International Space Station, Expedition 54 Flight Engineers Mark Vande Hei of NASA and Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) conducted a spacewalk to move a Latching End Effector, or hand, for the Canadarm2 robotic arm into the Quest airlock that was removed during another excursion last October and to move a degraded end effector replaced during a Jan. 23 spacewalk onto a payload attachment device on the station’s Mobile Base System railcar. The spacewalk was the 208th in station history for assembly, maintenance and upgrades, the fourth in Vande Hei’s career and the first for Kanai, who became only the fourth Japanese astronaut to walk in space.

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2018-02-16 - NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and JAXA astronaut Norishige Kanai take part in a spacewalk to install Canadarm2’s original “hand” on the International Space Station’s mobile base.

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2019-05-03 - On board the International Space Station, Canadian Space Agency astronaut David Saint-Jacques discusses his thoughts on using Canadarm2 to capture a visiting vehicle and the future of Canadian space robotics. (Credits: Canadian Space Agency, NASA)

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2019-07-15 - Canada's contribution to the Lunar Gateway will be a smart robotic system which includes a next-generation robotic arm known as Canadarm3, as well as equipment, and specialized tools. Using cutting-edge software and advances in artificial intelligence, this highly-autonomous system will be able to maintain, repair and inspect the Gateway, capture visiting vehicles, relocate Gateway modules, help astronauts during spacewalks, and enable science both in lunar orbit and on the surface of the Moon. (Credits: Canadian Space Agency, NASA)

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