One of the most important uses of robotic arms in history, was The Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SRMS) or Canadarm, this was a joint venture between the the United States and Canadian government to supply the NASA Space Shuttle program with a robotic arm for the deployment and retrieval of space hardware from the payload bay of the orbiter. The project began in 1975 and in April 1981 the first SRMS was delivered to NASA at a cost of approximately $108 million. The SRMS was first used in flight later that year on 12 November 1981. Due to its success, NASA ordered 4 more Canadarm’s, one of which was lost in the Challenger accident.
