At 2:28 AM, on March 11, one of the largest space station missions will be underway. The launching of the space shuttle Endeavour will take off into orbit, carrying a couple of significant upgrades for the International Space Station.

The shuttle will be carrying a seven man crew, a robotic arm attachment, and the first component for Japan’s giant Kibo space lab. The mission will be led by Commander Dominic Gorie. Commander Gorie saw his first space flight in 1998, with the final mission to the Mir Space Station.

On March 15th, is when the space station will get it’s robotic attachment. The CSA (Canada Space Agency) is the proud owner, and builder of the robot arm. “Dextre” is an external robot arm, that will be fitted to a mobile platform outside of the station. It will be able to perform many functions that the astronauts had to do “space walks” for. The walks are considered very dangerous and will help with safety up on the station. Along with the safety benefit, Dextre will open up more free time for the astronauts to focus on research. The arm cost a whopping $274 million, and has a mass of 3,440 lbs.

Front View Of Dextre (Photo Credit: NASA)

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