MOSCOW, September 22. /TASS/. The crew of Russia's segment of the International Space Station have been testing and activating the robotic manipulator European Robotic Arm (ERA), placed on the outer surface of the research module Nauka, Russia's space corporation Roscosmos said on Wednesday.

At the moment, the crew are activating the manipulator and integrating its software with the station's control system. A number of tests of the manipulator's systems and software are to be carried out to check its working capacity and deploy on the Russian segment of the ISS.

Russia's new module Nauka is meant for building up the technical and operating capability of the space station's Russian segment.