China/Space-Small Mechanical Arm/Function

Shotlist

Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site, Hainan Province, south China – Recent (CCTV – No access Chinese mainland)
1. Various of engineers working on mechanical arm

Beijing, China – July 15, 2022 (CCTV – No access Chinese mainland)
2. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Wang Xin, general director, space station system, China Academy of Space Technology, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (partially overlaid with shot 3/ending with shot 4):
“The large mechanical arm is 10 meters in length. The small mechanical arm also has seven degrees of freedom. There are also many adapters for the mechanical arms set on the module, which enables the small mechanical arm to crawl on the surface of the module. The function of small mechanical arm is basically the same as the large one.”

Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site, Hainan Province, south China – Recent (CCTV – No access Chinese mainland)
++SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
3. Engineers working on mechanical arm
++SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
4. Animation showing mechanical arm working
5. Mechanical arm being moved

Beijing, China – July 15, 2022 (CCTV – No access Chinese mainland)
6. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Wang Xin, general director, space station system, China Academy of Space Technology, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (starting with shot 5/ending with shots 7-8):
“Through the mechanical interface, one end of the large mechanical arm can be connected to one end of the small mechanical arm, to send some information which can activate connections including power supply and distribution.”

Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site, Hainan Province, south China – Recent (CCTV – No access Chinese mainland)
7. Engineers working on mechanical arm

In Space – Aug 3, 2022 (China National Space Administration – No access Chinese mainland)
8. First joint of small mechanical arm conducting test
9. Camera outside Wentian showing first joint of small mechanical arm conducting test
10. Small mechanical arm conducting test
11. Camera outside Wentian showing small mechanical arm conducting test
12. Second joint of small mechanical arm conducting test

Storyline

The most accurate mechanical arm in space, aboard the Wentian lab module on China’s Tiangong space station, is ready to support future space missions such as extravehicular sorties by astronauts, cargo transfers and maintenance and repair of the space station’s exterior.

The five-meter-long small mechanical arm installed on the airlock of the Wentian lab module is currently the most accurate robotic arm in space. It can carry payloads of up to three tonnes.

Although it’s only half the size of the mechanical arm installed on the space station’s core module Tianhe, the lab module arm has seven extra degrees of manoeuvrability, which means it can conduct even more delicate operations in a precise manner.

“The large mechanical arm is 10 meters in length. The small mechanical arm also has seven extra degrees of manoeuvrability. There are also many adapters for the mechanical arms set on the module, which enables the small mechanical arm to crawl on the surface of the module. The function of small mechanical arm is basically the same as the large one,” said Wang Xin, General Director of the Space Station System at the China Academy of Space Technology, part of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

Wang said that the large and small mechanical arms can work independently to maximise their capabilities, while they can also be combined with each other to form a longer arm with a working diameter of 15 meters.

“Through the mechanical interface, one end of the large mechanical arm can be connected to one end of the small mechanical arm, to send some information which can activate connections including power supply and distribution,” said Wang.

The small mechanical arm on board Wentian lab module has completed a series of in-orbit tests and delivered excellent performances, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMS) on Wednesday.

The latest video released on the CMS official social media account shows the small robotic arm on board Wentian disengaging from its base, crawling on the surface of the space station, and docking with one of the adapters on the surface of the space station.

The video also shows different joints of the small robotic arm moving smoothly, enabling it to perform delicate operations on the space station.

The Wentian lab module was launched from southern China’s Hainan Province on July 24 and docked with the Tianhe core module of the China Space Station in the early hours of July 25.

China has entered the “multi-module” stage in the construction of its space station. The space station has evolved from a single-module structure into a national space laboratory with three modules, the core module Tianhe, and two lab modules Wentian and Mengtian, the last of which is set to be launched in October.