Fig. 5. Universal service tool. RCS induced loads. The system has two mounting options, one is the starboard orbiter cargo bay longeron, the other could be palletized to provide a greater versatility in cargo bay positioning. A further system trade-off will be arm stiffness, weight and length versus the dynamic interaction of the system with the oscillations resulting from the digital auto pilot firing. This period will also see what we, with some justification, may call the first use of robotics in space. A boost stage will be developed that will perform a variety of missions as a minitug providing an upper stage to shuttle deployed payloads. Initially, manipulator principal tasks will be payload placement and retrieval, payload inspection and servicing with module exchange technique, large space systems assembly support, and uncooperative and space debris collection in low Earth orbit. These operations will be succeeded by manned servicing and then remote servicing in geosynchronous orbit during the nineties. The boost vehicles control philosophy thus requires a mix of man-in-the-loop and spacecraft autonomous control to support this activity, and would use a variety of add-on mission-specific kits to achieve mission tasks. The baseline system would require the use of a standard RMS snare end effector (in this case retractable) as the spacecraft docking adaptor. This independent use of the end effector initiates a trend toward self-contained subsystems which requires signal conditioning and data processing within manipulator terminal devices. The importance of which increases dramatically with fully sensate hands, where it is pragmatic to minimize the number of wires and data that must flow to and from a central processor. Manipulator kits will be developed that possess a wide range of features, such as the Spar UST, physically adaptive hands for debris collection, and the addition of self-sealing nozzles for fluid transfer. Initially the control of the system will be man-in-the-loop, but with the extension of operations to the geosynchronous orbit, the systems will require a greater degree of autonomy. With space at a premium in the orbiter cargo bay there is increasing interest in placing payloads in the protected volume, termed the aft cargo compartment, attached to the aft end of the external tank. This is often envisaged as an alternative berth for the upper boost stage system. In this concept a second shuttle arm, aft mounted, is used to effect booster unberthing prior to payload/booster docking and on orbit deployment.
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