Robotic arm workstation

The robotic workstation in Europe’s Cupola observatory module on the International Space Station. ESA astronaut André Kuipers and NASA astronaut Don Pettit flew the Station’s robotic arm to grab and dock the first commercial space ferry Dragon on 25 May 2012.

André watched Dragon approach and acted as an extra pair of eyes as Don operated the robotic arm. Once safely captured, André took over the controls to move the vessel to the Harmony module next to ESA’s Columbus laboratory.

The Space Station crew will open the hatch to Dragon and start unloading a day later. The spacecraft will be packed with cargo from the Space Station and return to Earth within a week.