Iowa State aerospace engineering alum Clay Anderson and his Expedition crewmates onboard the International Space Station will move a major piece of equipment, the pressurized mating adapter-3 (PMA-3), this week. The PMA-3 is being relocated to make room for the installation of Harmony, a 23- by 14-foot module, which will arrive on space shuttle Discovery in October. To prepare for moving PMA-3, the crew has been using training software to simulate the robotic arm operations. The station’s robotic arm, Canadarm2, is nearly 58 feet long when fully extended and has seven motorized joints.
To learn more about Anderson’s ISS assignment, visit the NASA International Space Station Web site. Images from the ISS are available on the Expedition 15 Gallery.
To read about other AerE alumni and undergraduates at NASA, see Alums contribute to NASA mission and Undergrads share NASA co-op experiences at JSC