The Lyappa (or Ljappa) arm, officially Automatic system of re-docking (russian: Автоматическая система перестыковки (АСПр), translit=Avtomaticheskaya sistema perestykovki (ASPr)), was a robotic arm used during the assembly of the Soviet/Russian

space station A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a human crew in orbit for an extended period of time, and is therefore a type of space habitat. It lacks major propulsion or landing systems. An orbital station or an orbital space station i ...

Mir ''Mir'' (russian: Мир, ; ) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to&n ...

''. Each of the ''

Kvant-2 Kvant-2 (russian: Квант-2; English: Quantum-II/2) (77KSD, TsM-D, 11F77D) was the third module and second major addition to the Mir space station. Its primary purpose was to deliver new science experiments, better life support systems, and an ...

'', ''

Kristall The Kristall (russian: Кристалл, , Crystal) (77KST, TsM-T, 11F77T) module was the fourth module and the third major addition to ''Mir''. As with previous modules, its configuration was based on the 77K (TKS) module, and was originally na ...

'', ''

Spektr Spektr (russian: Спектр; en, Spectrum) (TKM-O, 77KSO, 11F77O) was the fifth module of the Mir Space Station. The module was designed for remote observation of Earth's environment containing atmospheric and surface research equipment. Sp ...

'' and ''

Priroda The Priroda (russian: Природа; en, Nature) (TsM-I, 77KSI, 11F77I) module was the seventh and final module of the Mir Space Station. Its primary purpose was to conduct Earth resource experiments through remote sensing and to develop and ...

'' modules was equipped with one of these arms, which, after the module had docked to the

Mir Core Module ''Mir'' (russian: Мир lit. ''Peace'' or ''World''), DOS-7, was the first module of the Soviet/Russian ''Mir'' space station complex, in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001. Generally referred to as either the core module or base block, ...

's forward (or axial) port, grappled one of two fixtures positioned on the core module's hub module. The module's main docking probe was then retracted, and the arm raised the module so that it could be pivoted 90 degrees for docking to one of the four radial docking ports. Likewise the Prichal module will host the grapple fixtures for the redocking of future modules docked to it from one port to another using the Lyappa Arm attached to those modules, if needed. Rotation Arm on Wentian

Both the Wentian and Mengtian modules of the planned Tiangong space station will also carry arms to enable them to manoeuvre around the docking hub of the ''

Tianhe core module ''Tianhe'' (), officially the ''Tianhe'' core module (), is the first module to launch of the Tiangong space station. It was launched into orbit on 29 April 2021, as the first launch of the final phase of Tiangong program, part of the Ch ...

''. A mechanical arm dubbed the Indexing robotic arm, which looks similar to the Lyappa arm, will be the arm on the modules to allow them to dock to a radial port of the CCM. It is different from Lyappa as it works on a different mechanism. Lyappa arm is needed to control the pitch of the spacecraft and redocking in a different plane. But the indexing robot arm where docking is needed in the same plane. In addition to this arm used for docking relocation, the Chinarm on ''Tianhe'' module can also be used as a backup.

Name

The word “Lyappa” does not exist in Russian. It is probably a corruption of russian: лапа, translit=lapa, lit=paw.

Gallery

Image:Lyappa arm and attach fixture on Mir.jpg , Lyappa arm and attach fixture on Mir Image:Mir arm1.jpg, Lyappa arm at the

RKK Energiya museum The RKK Energiya museum is a museum dedicated to the early achievements of Russian space exploration programmes. It is located on the grounds of the RKK Energiya factory in Korolyov, near Moscow. The date of the company founding is considered ...

Image:RP1357 p165 Repositioning Kvant module using Lyappa arm.svg , A diagram showing how the arm was used to relocate ''

''. File:Mir Docking Cone Placement and Module Movements.pdf, A diagram showing the ''Konus'' drogue and module movements around ''Mirs docking node

References

Literature

* Mir Spacecraft docking systems Articulated robotics Robotic manipulators {{Robo-stub