The end effector doesn t have fingers, but it does have a wire loop that can tighten around the object onto which it needs to grasp. The shoulder joint is capable of two different movements, while the elbow can only move in one direction. The wrist joint can move in three ways. All of the joints are separated from each other with upper and lower arm booms or poles. This blanket maintains the temperature of the arm so that it doesn t get too hot from the sun or too cold while it s in the shadow of the Earth.
Astronauts use two-hand controllers to manage the movement of the robotic arm.
All of the joints can be coordinated to move together or to operate individually. A translational hand controller manages the arm s left, right, up, down, forward and backward movements while a rotational hand controller manages the joints. The cameras and lights on the arm and in the cargo bay transmit pictures to the astronauts so they can precisely move the arm. The Shuttle Remote Manipulator System, now known as the Canadarm . At 410 kg, the arm could not lift itself off the ground in Earth s gravity.