View source for Dextre

{{dablink|This is about space equipment, for ''Dexter'', see [[Dexter (disambiguation)]]}}
[[image:S123 Dextre01.jpg|thumb|right|300px|ISS Canada "hand" (NASA).]]

'''Dextre''' (also known as the '''Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator''' ('''SPDM''')) is a two armed robot, or [[telemanipulator]], which is part of the [[Mobile Servicing System]] on the [[International Space Station]] (ISS), and extends the function of this system to replace some activities otherwise requiring [[Extra-vehicular activity|spacewalks]]. It was launched March 11, 2008 on mission [[STS-123]].

Dextre is part of [[Canada]]'s contribution to the ISS and is named to represent its [[dexterity|dexterous]] nature.  It is sometimes also referred to as the '''''Canada hand''''', by analogy with the [[Canadarm]] and [[Canadarm2]]. Dextre was designed and manufactured by [[MacDonald Dettwiler]].

==Structure==
Dextre resembles a headless torso fitted with two extremely agile 3 m-long arms. The 3.5 m long body pivots at the "waist". The body has a grapple fixture at one end that can be grasped by the larger Space Station Arm, [[Canadarm2]] so that the SPDM can be positioned at the various Orbital Replacement Unit (ORU) worksites around the Space Station. The other end of the body has an end effector virtually identical to that of Canadarm2, so that the SPDM can be stored on Space Station grapple fixtures Unit/Tool Changeout Mechanism (OTCM). It has built-in grasping jaws, a retractable socket drive, a monochrome TV camera, lights, and an umbilical connector that can provide power, data, and video to/from a payload.

The lower body of Dextre has a pair of orientable colour TV cameras with lights, a platform for stowing ORUs, and a tool holster. The tool holster is equipped with three different tools used to perform various tasks.

==Design and delivery==
The SPDM was designed and manufactured by [[MDA Space Missions]] as contracted by the [[Canadian Space Agency]], which will oversee its future operations and the necessary training of station crews.

It completed all necessary testing and was delivered to the [[Kennedy Space Center]] (KSC) in Florida, in mid-June 2007. Once at KSC, it underwent flight verification testing followed by [[space shuttle|shuttle]] integration. 

==Installation==
Dextre was launched to the ISS on March 11, 2008 aboard [[Space Shuttle Endeavour|''Endeavour'']] on mission [[STS-123]]. It "woke up" and activated heaters needed for keeping its joints and electronics warm after receiving power from the space station's Canadarm2 on March 14. During the mission's second spacewalk on March 16, spacewalking astronauts attached the two {{convert|3.35|m|ft|0}} arms to the robot's main body and further prepared the machine for its handyman job on the station. After the spacewalk, crew members hooked Dextre back up to the station robotic arm to keep it warm and to allow NASA to perform tests to ensure all of Dextre's electronics were working properly. Later that day, the crew tested all of its joints and brakes.<ref name=cnn>{{cite web
|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/space/03/16/space.shuttle.ap/index.html
|title= Spacewalkers resort to banging, pry bar
|date=March 16, 2008
|publisher=Associated Press
|accessdate=2008-03-17
}}</ref> Astronauts finished outfitting the robot during a third spacewalk on March 17, 2008.<ref name="cnn080317">{{cite web |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/space/03/17/space.shuttle.ap/index.html |title=Astronauts outfit robot with tool belt, cameras |work=CNN.com |author=Associated Press |date=2008-03-18 |accessdate=2008-03-18}}</ref>

==Additional usage==
In early August 2004 [[NASA]] declared its intention to use Dextre (or a close copy of it) as the robotic component for the [[Hubble Space Telescope]] rescue mission. Months after awarding a contract to [[MDA Space Missions]]<ref>[http://www.mdaspace.ca/ MDA Space Missions official site]</ref> to provide an SPDM copy for the Hubble repair mission, NASA then canceled the mission in favour of flying a Shuttle mission to perform the repairs/upgrades. NASA cited excessive risks and new-found confidence in the [[Space Shuttle external tank|Shuttle ET]] as reasons for the cancellation.

Dextre was the subject of an April Fool's Day joke article on April 1, 2008 on NASA's APOD website.<ref>[http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080401.html  New Space Station Robot Asks to be Called &quot;Dextre the Magnificent&quot;]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/missions/sts-123/dextre.asp Canadian Space Agency page on ''Dextre'']
*[http://www.ctv.ca/mar/static/dextre/ Dextre: STS Mission 123] [[CTV News]] animation series showing '''Dextre''' in operation

{{ISS modules}}
{{Orbital launches in 2008}}

[[Category:Robots]]
[[Category:International Space Station components]]
[[Category:Canadian space program]]
[[Category:Prototype robots]]
[[Category:Laboratory robots]]
[[Category:2008 in spaceflight]]

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[[nl:Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator]]
[[ru:Декстр]]
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