Jun 3 2003
From The Space Library
The Canadian Space Agency awarded a four-year, US$116 million contract to MD Robotics to provide engineering services for robotic elements for the ISS. Under the contract, MD Robotics, a subsidiary of MacDonald, Dettweiler and Associates Ltd., would maintain and upgrade software for robotic components and would continue developing and testing a two-armed robot called Dextre, scheduled for installation at the ISS in 2005. MD Robotics had designed Dextre for attachment to the ISS, either at the end of the robotic arm currently in place~Canadarm 2~or on the mobile base station. Dextre would perform external maintenance tasks at the ISS. (Jason Bates, “MacDonald Dettweiler Nabs Space Station Contract,” Space News, 3 June 2003.
Edward J. Weiler, NASA's Associate Administrator for Space Science, testified before the U.S. Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space about Project Prometheus, a proposed nuclear technology program. The proposal called for NASA to spend US$3 billion between 2003 and 2008, developing more powerful radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) to convert energy from the decay of radioactive material into electricity and to explore the use of fission to power spacecraft and their instruments. A strong supporter of the program, NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe, a former Secretary of the Navy, hoped to apply lessons learned from the nuclear submarine program to spacecraft. Weiler stated that nuclear fission was necessary for sending spacecraft to scrutinize the outer planets of the solar system, such as Jupiter, and could open the door to human spaceflight to Mars. NASA hoped to use the powerful RTGs developed in Project Prometheus for a robotic mission to Mars in 2009. NASA proposed to make a mission to Jupiter's moons as its first use of fission technology in space exploration. (Gwyneth K. Shaw, “Advice to NASA Supports Nuclear-Fueled Spaceflight,” Orlando Sentinel (FL), 4 June 2003.
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