ESA astronaut candidate Sophie Adenot during a virtual reality robotics session as part of her basic astronaut training at ESA’s European Astronaut Centre, near Cologne, Germany.
The first building block of International Space Station robotics training in the curriculum of ESA’s 2022 astronaut candidate class is called GRAVI-T training.
During this session, they delve into generic robotic training, focusing on learning how to manipulate the Canadarm2 robotic arm.
Robotic arms on the Station are used to grab and berth cargo vessels such as Japan’s HTV and the Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus. They can also help astronauts during spacewalks by moving an astronaut strapped to the end of the arm to hard-to-reach places on the outside of the International Space Station. It can even replace a spacewalk altogether.
Under the supervision of instructors at the Astronaut Centre, the candidates use the Dynamic Skills Trainer, a console training tool, to operate the robotic arm within a simulated environment.
In addition, the astronaut candidates undergo virtual reality sessions to gain a better understanding of the 17-metre-long robotic arm's operations aboard the Station.