Thomas Pesquet trains with European Robotic Arm

ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet training with the European Robotic Arm simulators at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC) in Moscow, Russia, in February 2021.

Thomas will welcome the arrival of the European Robotic Arm to the International Space Station in July 2021 and will be involved in setting up the arm from the Russian segment. 

It will take five spacewalks to get the robotic arm fit for space operations. ERA’s first tasks in orbit are to set up the airlock and install a large radiator for the Multipurpose Laboratory Module, also called ‘Nauka’. 

The European Robotic Arm is the first robot that can ‘walk’ around the Russian part of the International Space Station. 

ERA has a length of over 11 m, and can anchor itself to the Station in multiple locations, moving backwards and forwards around the Russian segment with a large range of motion. Its home base will be the Multipurpose Laboratory Module, also called ‘Nauka’.

Astronauts will find in the European Robotic Arm a most valuable ally – it will save them precious time to do other work in space. 

The crew in space can control ERA from both inside and outside the Space Station, a feature that no other robotic arm has offered before. 

100% made-in-Europe, this intelligent robotic arm consists of two end effectors, two wrists, two limbs and one elbow joint together with electronics and cameras. Both ends act as either a 'hand' for the robot.