LONGUEUIL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwire) -- 07/16/12 -- The Canadarm left the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and and is on the road making its way home. Before reaching its final destination, the Canadarm will be transported to MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA) office to be sanitized and refurbished. Once ready, the Canadarm will be displayed at the Canadian Space Agency's John H. Chapman Space Center.

The Canadarm, Canada's national icon of technological innovation, made its space debut on the U.S. Space Shuttle on November 13, 1981. Designed to deploy and retrieve space payloads, the robotic arm quickly became a critical element in the Space Shuttle Program. It worked flawlessly for 90 Shuttle missions, spending a total of 944 days in space and travelling the equivalent of over 624 million km.

For more details on the Canadarm, visit: http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/canadarm/default.asp.

For any questions, please contact the CSA's media relations team.

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