11 Facts About Canadarm

Canadarm or Canadarm1 is a series of robotic arms that were used on the Space Shuttle orbiters to deploy, manoeuvre, and capture payloads.

The Space Shuttle flight software that monitors and controls the Canadarm was developed in Houston, Texas, by the Federal Systems Division of IBM.

The Canadarm can retrieve, repair and deploy satellites, provide a mobile extension ladder for extravehicular activity crew members for work stations or foot restraints, and be used as an inspection aid to allow the flight crew members to view the orbiter's or payload's surfaces through a television camera on the Canadarm.

Canadarm is outfitted with an explosive-based mechanism to allow the arm to be jettisoned.

The Canadarm has six joints that correspond roughly to the joints of the human arm, with shoulder yaw and pitch joints, an elbow pitch joint, and wrist pitch, yaw, and roll joints.

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Simulated Canadarm installed on the Enterprise was seen when the prototype orbiter's payload bay doors were open to test hangar facilities early in the Space Shuttle program.

The Canadarm was first tested in orbit in 1981, on Columbia's STS-2 mission.

Canadarm has since flown on more than 90 missions with all five orbiters.

Discovery's Canadarm is displayed next to it in the National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center.

Endeavour left its OBSS at the International Space Station as part of its final mission, while its Canadarm was originally going to be displayed in the headquarters of the Canadian Space Agency .

However, Endeavours Canadarm is on permanent display at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa.