The European Space Agency (ESA) is celebrating another milestone for the European Robotic Arm (ERA), which "effortlessly" completed a test on the International Space Station last week.
The 11-metre arm completed its first transfer following commands from cosmonauts inside the space station as teams from Russia and the Netherlands watched on from Earth.
Cosmonauts roused the robotic arm from hibernation, stretched it out and moved a payload about the size of a small suitcase from one side of the Nauka Multipurpose Laboratory Module to the other and back again.
After this, the ERA went back into hibernation.
It might sound minor, but the whole operation took about six hours.
The ESA called it "one small step for robot" but spoke of its significance.
"The test proved what the European Robotic Arm was built for: to move and latch payloads and equipment outside the Russian segment of the Space Station with an accuracy of 5 mm, saving time and work for the crew," the agency said in a statement.
It said the arm completed the task "effortlessly".
The test was carried out on August 26 ahead of a spacewalk scheduled for later on Friday.
Roscosmos astronauts Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev will step out of the station to keep working on the robotic arm after last month's spacewalk was cut short when one of their spacesuits had battery power problems.
"Oleg and Denis will relocate the arm’s external control panel, remove some restraints near the two end effectors or 'hands' of the arm, and test a rigidising mechanism that will facilitate the grasping of payloads," the ESA said.
The arm will be tested again later this month in a performance mission that the ESA said would "push the arm's capabilities to the limit".
Space engineers will evaluate the arm's brakes, motions and force control.
The ESA will also be scrutinising the quality of images captured by the cameras on the arm's "elbow", to work out if they're good enough to guide operations during the orbital night.
Launched in 2021, the ERA is the International Space Station's newest robotic arm.
The Canadian and Japanese robotic arms were already functional, but were unable to reach the Russian segment of the station.
Forming a V shape, the ERA has one elbow joint and two limbs, with both ends of those limbs acting like a hand and a foot — as it is able to effectively "walk" around the Russian segment.
Its home base is the Multipurpose Laboratory Module but it was designed to anchor to the station at multiple points.
It can handle payloads of up to 8 tonnes, can withstand temperatures from between -150 and 120 degrees Celsius and has the capacity to transport spacewalkers around the outside of the station like a cherrypicker crane.
