46-404: The Manned Maneuvering Unit ( MMU ) is an astronaut propulsion unit that was used by NASA on three Space Shuttle missions in 1984. The MMU allowed the astronauts to perform untethered extravehicular spacewalks at a distance from the shuttle. The MMU was used in practice to retrieve a pair of faulty communications satellites, Westar VI and Palapa B2 . Following the third mission the unit
92-463: A distance from the shuttle. The MMU was used in practice to retrieve a pair of faulty communications satellites, Westar VI and Palapa B2. Following the third mission the unit was retired from use. The Soviet Union also used a cosmonaut propulsion system on flights to the space station Mir . The SPK (or UMK, UPMK ) was larger than the Space Shuttle MMU, contained oxygen instead of nitrogen and
138-477: A much better plan. Their successful work increased the lifespan of the satellite. The final MMU mission was STS-51-A , which flew in November 1984. The propulsion unit was used to retrieve two communication satellites, Westar VI and Palapa B2 , that did not reach their proper orbits because of faulty propulsion modules. Astronauts Joseph P. Allen and Dale Gardner captured the two satellites and brought them into
184-471: A range of approximately 13 centimetres. The MMU was small enough to be maneuvered with ease around and within complex structures. With a full propellant load, its mass was 148 kilograms (326 pounds). Gaseous nitrogen was used as the propellant for the MMU. Two aluminium tanks with Kevlar wrappings contained 5.9 kilograms of nitrogen each, enough propellant for a six-hour Extravehicular activity (EVA) depending on
230-454: A support station attached to the wall of the payload bay near the airlock hatch. Two MMUs were carried on a mission, with the second unit mounted across from the first on the opposite payload bay wall. The MMU controller arms were folded for storage. When an astronaut backed into the unit and snapped the life-support system into place, the arms were unfolded. To adapt to astronauts with different arm lengths, controller arms could be adjusted over
276-552: A telescoping pole, a bi-stem pole and a bola -type lasso device ( astrorope ) the drifting astronaut could throw to hook to the space station. SRMS Canadarm or Canadarm1 (officially Shuttle Remote Manipulator System or SRMS , also SSRMS ) is a series of robotic arms that were used on the Space Shuttle orbiters to deploy, manoeuvre, and capture payloads . After the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster ,
322-499: Is a smaller backpack propulsion system intended as a safety device during space walks. It contains 1.4 kg of gaseous nitrogen , which provides much less delta-v capability than the MMU, roughly 10 feet per second (3 meters per second). However SAFER is less complex, less expensive and simpler to use than the MMU, and the limited delta-v is sufficient for the intended rescue-only task. Other Crew Self Rescue (CSR) devices of which prototypes have been developed include an inflatable pole,
368-610: The Gemini 4 mission in 1965. The hand-held gun held several pounds of nitrogen, and allowed limited movement around the Gemini spacecraft . It was also used by astronaut Michael Collins on the Gemini 10 mission in 1966. The United States Air Force (USAF) Astronaut Maneuvering Unit (AMU) was designed by the U.S. Air Force , which was planning to use the Gemini spacecraft as part of the Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL). The AMU
414-562: The Kvant-2 module, was destroyed when Mir re-entered the atmosphere after decommissioning. The 21KS system is a completely new design for Orlan-DMA spacesuit not using a safety tether, but air jet engines. This system was similar to MMU. It was automatically stabilized, used 6 degrees of freedom, weighed less than 180 kg, had a delta-v of 30 m/s, practical speed of 1 m/s, and an emergency mode that allows for rotational acceleration of 8°/s^2. The Simplified Aid For EVA Rescue (SAFER)
460-586: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration . Astronaut propulsion unit An astronaut propulsion unit (or astronaut maneuvering unit ) is used to move an astronaut relative to the spaceship during a spacewalk . The first astronaut propulsion unit was the Hand-Held Maneuvering Unit (HHMU) used on Gemini 4 . The Hand-Held Maneuvering Unit was the EVA "zip" gun used by Ed White on
506-687: The National Air and Space Museum in 1998, which now hangs suspended in the hall above Space Shuttle Discovery in the Udvar-Hazy Center annex. Flight article No. 2 is on display at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. As of 2017, MMU No. 1 is on display in the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility at Johnson Space Center. [REDACTED] This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of
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#1732847800864552-669: The Skylab 3 and 4 missions. Tested inside of the orbiting laboratory, it used nitrogen gas allowing both unsuited and suited testing of the unit. The Skylab AMU was the closest to the Shuttle MMU, but was not used outside the spacecraft because the EVAs were conducted with the astronauts attached to life support umbilicals, and to prevent damage to the delicate solar arrays on the Apollo Telescope Mount . The Foot Controlled Maneuvering Unit
598-454: The Canadarm from the aft flight deck control station, and a second crew member usually assists with television camera operations. This allows the Canadarm operator to view Canadarm operations through the aft flight deck payload and overhead windows and through the closed-circuit television monitors at the aft flight deck station. The Canadarm is outfitted with an explosive-based mechanism to allow
644-486: The Canadarm was always paired with the Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS), which was used to inspect the exterior of the shuttle for damage to the thermal protection system . In 1969, Canada was invited by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to participate in the Space Shuttle program . At the time what that participation would entail had not yet been decided but a manipulator system
690-660: The Canadian flag and wordmark onto the arm to fly Canadian colours with those of the USA. The first Canadarm was delivered to NASA in April 1981. Astronaut Judith Resnik developed the NASA software and onboard operating procedures for the system. In all, five arms – Nos. 201, 202, 301, 302, and 303 – were built and delivered to NASA. Arm 302 was lost in the Challenger accident. The original Canadarm
736-636: The Gemini spacecraft, but was scrubbed two months before the mission. NASA chief astronaut Deke Slayton later speculated in his autobiography that the AMU may have been developed for the MOL program because the Air Force "thought they might have the chance to inspect somebody else's satellites." In 1973, the Automatically Stabilized Maneuvering Unit (ASMU) was test-flown aboard Skylab during
782-649: The MMU to capture the Solar Maximum Mission satellite and to bring it into the orbiter's payload bay for repairs and servicing. The plan was to use an astronaut-piloted MMU to grapple the SMM with the Trunion Pin Attachment Device (TPAD) mounted between the hand controllers of the MMU, null its rotation rates, and allow the Shuttle to bring it into the Shuttle's payload bay for stowage. Three attempts to grapple
828-400: The MMU. To operate the propulsion system, the astronaut used their fingertips to manipulate hand controllers at the ends of the MMU's two arms. The right controller produced rotational acceleration for roll, pitch, and yaw. The left controller produced translational acceleration for moving forward-back, up-down, and left-right. Coordination of the two controllers produced intricate movements in
874-532: The Orbiter payload bay for stowage and return to Earth. After a safety review following the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster , the MMU was judged too risky for further use and it was found many activities planned for the MMU could be done effectively with manipulator arms or traditional tethered EVAs. NASA also discontinued using the Shuttle for commercial satellite contracts, and the military discontinued
920-647: The Plasma Diagnostics Package. Canadarm subsequently flew on more than 90 missions with all five orbiters. Since the installation of the Canadarm2 on the International Space Station (ISS), the two arms have been used to hand over segments of the station for assembly from the orbiter's Canadarm to the Canadarm2; the use of both elements in tandem has earned the nickname of "Canadian Handshake" in
966-619: The SPAR mechanical development laboratory, built the end effector prototype based on Tony's concept and is credited by SPAR as the inventor of the Canadarm End Effector. The three-wire crossover design won over the claw-like mechanisms and others, such as the camera iris model, that were being considered. The main control algorithms were developed by SPAR and by subcontractor Dynacon Inc. of Toronto . CAE Electronics Ltd. in Montreal provided
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#17328478008641012-438: The addition of woven metal "pants" made of Chromel-R metal cloth. The AMU was carried aboard the Gemini 9 mission, but was not tested because the astronaut, Eugene Cernan , had difficulty maneuvering from the Gemini cabin to the AMU storage place, at the back of the spacecraft, and overheated, causing his helmet faceplate to fog up. The AMU was also meant to be launched and flown on-board Gemini 12 , and to fly untethered from
1058-427: The amount of maneuvering done. The two propellent tanks had an initial charge on the ground prior to the mission allowing for Delta-v of 110 to 130 ft/sec. The tanks could be recharged in orbit to a minimum equivalent Delta-v of 72 ft/sec. For a nominal mass, translational acceleration was 0.3±0.05 ft/sec and rotational acceleration was 10.0±3.0 deg/sec. There were 24 nozzle thrusters placed at different locations on
1104-412: The arm to be jettisoned. This safety system would have allowed the Orbiter's payload bay doors to be closed in the event that the arm failed in an extended position and was not able to be retracted. The Canadarm is 15.2 metres (50 ft) long and 38 centimetres (15 in) diameter with six degrees of freedom . It weighs 410 kilograms (900 lb) by itself, and 450 kilograms (990 lb) as part of
1150-434: The design and testing of the Canadarm, a qualification model that was subjected to environmental testing to qualify the design for use in space, and a flight unit. Anthony "Tony" Zubrzycki, a design engineer at DSMA ATCON, while seconded to SPAR, originated the concept for the Canadarm End Effector, inspired by an elastic band around his fingers. Zubrzycki formally presented this concept to NASA officials. Frank Mee, head of
1196-402: The display and control panel and the hand controllers located in the Shuttle aft flight deck. Other electronic interfaces, servo amplifiers, and power conditioners located on the Canadarm were designed and built by SPAR at its Montreal factory. The graphite composite boom that provides the structural connection between the shoulder and the elbow joint and the similar boom that connects the elbow to
1242-516: The ground. NASA, therefore, developed a model of the arm for use at its training facility within the Johnson Space Center located in Houston, Texas . The Canadarm can also retrieve, repair and deploy satellites, provide a mobile extension ladder for extravehicular activity crew members for work stations or foot restraints, and be used as an inspection aid to allow the flight crew members to view
1288-423: The idea had to wait for the advent of the Space Shuttle program, though several maneuvering device designs were tested inside Skylab. The MMU was used on three Shuttle missions in 1984. It was first tested on February 7 during mission STS-41-B by astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart . Two months later, during mission STS-41-C , astronauts James van Hoften and George Nelson attempted to use
1334-539: The lower boom connects the elbow and wrist joints. A simulated Canadarm installed on the Space Shuttle Enterprise was seen when the prototype orbiter's payload bay doors were open to test hangar facilities early in the Space Shuttle program. The Canadarm was first tested in orbit in 1981, on Space Shuttle Columbia 's STS-2 mission. Its first operational use was on STS-3 to deploy and manoeuvre
1380-743: The media. The Canadarm's 90th and final Shuttle mission was in July 2011 on STS-135 , delivering the Raffaello MPLM to the ISS and back. It is on display with Atlantis at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex . Discovery' s Canadarm is displayed next to it in the National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center . Endeavour left its OBSS at the International Space Station as part of its final mission , while its Canadarm
1426-407: The orbiter's or payload's surfaces through a television camera on the Canadarm. The basic Canadarm configuration consists of a manipulator arm, a Canadarm display, and a control panel, including rotational and translational hand controllers at the orbiter aft flight deck flight crew station, and a manipulator controller interface unit that interfaces with the orbiter computer. One crew member operates
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1472-509: The satellite using the TPAD failed. The TPAD jaws could not lock onto Solar Max because of an obstructing grommet on the satellite not included in the blueprints for the satellite. This led to an improvised plan which nearly ended the satellite's mission. The improvisation had the MMU astronaut use his hands to grab hold of an SMM solar array and null the rates by a push from MMU's thrusters. Instead, this attempt induced higher rates and in multiple axes;
1518-515: The satellite was tumbling out of control and quickly losing battery life. SMM Operations Control Center engineers shut down all non-essential SMM subsystems and with a bit of luck were able to recover the SMM minutes before total failure. The ground support engineers then stabilized the satellite and nulled its rotation rates for capture with the orbiter's robotic arm, the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System ( SRMS ). This proved to be
1564-677: The systems used to attach the Canadarm to the payload bay of the orbiter. An acceptance ceremony for NASA was held at Spar's RMS Division in Toronto on 11 February 1981. Here Larkin Kerwin , then the head of the NRC, gave the SRMS the informal name, Canadarm. The term was originally coined by Dr. Wally Cherwinski for use by Larkin Kerwin during his speech at the press conference. The NRC Canadarm Project Manager, Dr. Art Hunter, worked with colleagues, NASA and Spar, to add
1610-481: The test had to be cancelled because Cernan, tired and overheated, sweated so profusely that his helmet visor fogged before he could get to the AMU mounted on the back of the spacecraft. Astronauts did not learn how to work during EVA without tiring until the final Gemini 12 mission, but no AMU was carried on that flight. Since there was no real need for self-contained astronaut EVA flight in the Apollo and Skylab programs,
1656-431: The total system. The Canadarm has six joints that correspond roughly to the joints of the human arm, with shoulder yaw and pitch joints, an elbow pitch joint, and wrist pitch, yaw, and roll joints. The end effector is the unit at the end of the wrist that grapples the payload's grapple fixture . The two lightweight boom segments are called the upper and lower arms. The upper boom connects the shoulder and elbow joints, and
1702-515: The unit. Once a desired orientation was achieved, the astronaut could engage an automatic attitude-hold function that maintained the inertial attitude of the unit in flight. This freed both hands for work. In 1966, the US Air Force developed an Astronaut Maneuvering Unit (AMU), a self-contained rocket pack very similar to the MMU. This was planned to be tested during Project Gemini on an EVA by Eugene Cernan on Gemini 9A on June 5, 1966. However,
1748-469: The use of the Shuttle, eliminating the main potential uses. Although the MMU was envisioned as a natural aid for constructing the International Space Station , with its retirement, NASA developed different tethered spacewalk approaches. The two operational, flown flight units MMU No. 2 and No. 3 were stored by NASA in a clean room at Lockheed Martin in Denver through 1998. NASA transferred flight article No. 3 to
1794-643: The wrist were produced by General Dynamics in the United States . Dilworth, Secord, Meagher and Associates, Ltd. in Toronto was contracted to produce the engineering model end effector then SPAR evolved the design and produced the qualification and flight units. The Space Shuttle flight software that monitors and controls the Canadarm was developed in Houston, Texas , by the Federal Systems Division of IBM . Rockwell International 's Space Transportation Systems Division designed, developed, tested, and built
1840-413: Was a backpack using hydrogen peroxide as the fuel. The total delta-v capability of the AMU was about 250 feet per second (76.2 meters per second), roughly three times that of the MMU. The astronaut would strap on the AMU like a backpack, and maneuver around using two hand controllers like that of the later MMU. Because of the fuel, which came out as a hot gas, the astronaut's suit had to be modified with
1886-569: Was attached to a safety tether. Despite the tether, the SPK allowed the cosmonaut, wearing the self-contained Orlan spacesuit , to "fly around" the orbiting complex, allowing access to areas nearly impossible to access otherwise. Though tested on Mir in 1990, the cosmonauts preferred using the Strela crane (equivalent to the Mobile Servicing System ). The SPK, which was left attached to the outside to
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1932-403: Was capable of deploying payloads weighing up to 65,000 pounds (29,000 kg) in space. In the mid-1990s, the arm control system was redesigned to increase the payload capability to 586,000 pounds (266,000 kg) in order to support space station assembly operations. While able to maneuver payloads with the mass of a loaded bus in space, the arm motors cannot lift the arm's own weight when on
1978-613: Was identified as an important component. Canadian company DSMA ATCON had developed a robot to load fuel into CANDU nuclear reactors ; this robot attracted NASA's attention. In 1975, NASA and the Canadian National Research Council (NRC) signed a memorandum of understanding that Canada would develop and construct the Canadarm. NRC awarded the manipulator contract to Spar Aerospace (now MDA ). Three systems were constructed within this design, development, test, and evaluation contract: an engineering model to assist in
2024-688: Was originally going to be displayed in the headquarters of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). However, Endeavour ' s Canadarm is now on permanent display at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa . The last of the Canadarms to fly in space, the SRMS flown aboard Atlantis on STS-135 in July 2011, was shipped to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston for engineering study and possible reuse on
2070-556: Was retired from use. A smaller successor, the Simplified Aid For EVA Rescue (SAFER), was first flown in 1994, and is intended for emergency use only. The unit featured redundancy to protect against failure of individual systems. It was designed to fit over the life-support system backpack of the Space Shuttle Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU). When carried into space, the MMU was stowed in
2116-462: Was tested within Skylab. The purpose of it was to free the astronaut's hands. It was propelled by cold, high-pressured nitrogen gas located in a tank on the back. It was tested both suited and unsuited. The Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) is a propulsion backpack which was used by NASA astronauts on three space shuttle missions in 1984. The MMU allowed the astronauts to perform untethered EVA spacewalks at
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