​NASA Just Received a Giant Robot Arm

NASA announced that a gigantic robotic arm by the name of ISAAC (Integrated Structural Assembly of Advanced Composites) has been added to the crew of the NASA Langley Research Center. The huge appendage will naturally be used to build spaceships.

The arm is settling into its new digs after a challenging delivery process. It began with a cross-country trek on the back of two 53-foot flatbed trucks, and ended with a massive crane negotiating a tight fit in Langley's advanced manufacturing laboratory.

"There were only inches of clearance between the crane and the ceiling as they moved the robot arm and set it on the floor," said research engineer Brian Stewart in NASA's statement.

Delivery and installation of ISAAC. Image: NASA/Langley/YouTube

Given that the system cost about two and a half million dollars and took six years to secure, it must have been a pretty tense process. Nobody wants to be responsible for dropping the multimillion dollar robot arm.

Fortunately, it went off without a hitch, and Langley researchers are now in the process of preparing it for its new life as a spacecraft-builder. The arm is specially designed to work with spools of carbon fibres, which it can manufacture into larger parts and structures with impressive speed and precision. Perhaps the most exciting item on ISAAC's agenda will be contributing to the much-anticipated Space Launch System's second stage engine.

Only three models of the ISAAC robot have been built, all by a company called Electroimpact that specializes in ridiculously enormous tools. Acquiring it was part of a larger initiative at Langley to cut down times and costs specifically with composite manufacturing. Composites are more or less exactly what they sound like—materials made up of more than one constituent element, like cements, polymers, and ceramics.

Making these combos lighter, tougher, and overall better has big implications for space exploration, which is why Langley is gunning to become a leader in the field. Even Virginia's government is behind that goal, setting aside $25 million for composite research in the FY2014 omnibus spending bill.

"If we think about 30 years ago, Silicon Valley in northern California kind of carved out their brand—they were the information technology capital of the world," Virginia Senator Mark Warner told The Daily Press.

"Composites has the potential in all its applications to be a huge industry," he added. "We'd like to make Hampton Roads the Silicon Valley of composites."