Mission Preparation and Training Facility for Era

In 2000 the European Robotic Arm (ERA) will be launched and attached to the Russian segment of International Space Station Alpha. The arm will initially be used to support assembly operations on the Russian segment, and will eventually be used as servicing tool for at least ten years during Space Station life cycle. The Mission Preparation and Training Equipment (MPTE) is an important part of the ERA project. ERA operations will be prepared, planned, and supported from the MPTE, and ERA operators will be trained with the MPTE. Three identical versions of the MPTE will be installed at RSC/Energia-MCC and at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Russia, and at ESA/ESTEC in the Netherlands. Each of the facilities has its particular function in support of ERA operations, training, and maintenance. The design of the MPTE is based on existing tools and facilities to a maximum extent. Re-use is made of the real-time operations simulation facility EUROSIM, including the Image Generation Subsystem (IGS), and of the Columbus Ground Software system (CGS). Also, re-use is made of developments from the ERA projects, both hardware and software. Next to elegant breadboard systems of ERA flight hardware, development support simulation models from the ERA Simulations Facility (ESF) are re-used.