Manipulator Foot Restraint, Space Shuttle, Hubble Space Telescope

This adjustable foot restraint gave astronauts a portable extravehicular activity work station on the Space Shuttle’s mobile Remote Manipulator System (Canadarm). With boots anchored to the footplate and hands free for tools and equipment, an astronaut could be moved around and above the payload bay to do installation and repair tasks. The astronaut could orient the device to attain the best working position and attach necessary equipment to the upright post The pronged grapple fixture at the end of the base fit securely into the far end of the 15-meter (50- foot) arm. Some of the most dramatic photos of the shuttle era featured an astronaut standing on this device high above the Earth against the black backdrop of space.

NASA transferred this foot restraint from the Hubble Space Telescope program in 2011, after it had been used on servicing missions.