CELPIP Reading Part 3 Practice Test: The Canadarm and Canada’s Role in Space

Paragraph A

When the American space shuttle Columbia lifted off on its second flight in November 1981, it carried a piece of equipment that would make Canada a respected name in space exploration. The Shuttle Remote Manipulator System, better known as the Canadarm, was a robotic arm about fifteen metres long, designed and built in Canada. Mounted along the edge of the shuttle’s cargo bay, it was controlled by an astronaut working from a station at the back of the cockpit. Its main tasks were to lift satellites out of the bay and release them into orbit, and to capture satellites in space so that they could be repaired or brought back to Earth. Although its official name was long and technical, the nickname quickly caught on.

Paragraph B

The arm grew out of an agreement reached between Canada and NASA in the mid-1970s, under which the Canadian government paid to develop it. A team of Canadian companies, led by Spar Aerospace, carried out the work. Building the arm posed an unusual challenge: because it had been designed for the weightlessness of space, it could not support its own weight on Earth. Engineers therefore had to rely on special supports and computer simulations to test it. Like a human arm, it had a shoulder, an elbow and a wrist, and its joints allowed operators to handle large objects with remarkable precision. The project also gave Canadian engineers valuable experience in space robotics that would prove useful for decades.

Paragraph C

Over the next three decades, the Canadarm flew on 90 shuttle missions. It was used to release the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit and later to grab hold of it during repair missions, and it played an important part in assembling the International Space Station. In 2001, a larger successor, Canadarm2, was attached to the station itself, and Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield made spacewalks to help install it. Unlike the original, which stayed fixed to the shuttle, Canadarm2 can move from place to place on the station, flipping end over end between special fixtures. It has also been used to catch cargo spacecraft arriving from Earth and guide them into position.

Paragraph D

When the shuttle program ended in 2011, the Canadarm was retired, and one of the arms that flew in space is now on display at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa, where visitors can see it up close. Its influence reaches far beyond space, however. Technology developed for the arm has been adapted for uses on Earth, including robotic systems that assist surgeons. The arm has also become a national symbol: Canadarm2 and its robotic partner, Dextre, appear on Canada’s polymer five-dollar bill. The tradition is set to continue, as Canada is now contributing a new arm, Canadarm3, to a proposed space station that would orbit the Moon.