Transferring payloads in and out of the Station through the Russian airlock Inspection of the Station with the use of cameras Handling of (external) payloads Support of astronauts during space walks Freeing cosmonauts to do other work during spacewalks Before the cancelation of the Science Power Platform, the first task of the ERA included the assembly of solar arrays on the Russian Orbital Segment, as well as replacement of said solar arrays. Many of the arms early tasks were associated with the platform. Development and service history Early design Design on the European Robotic Arm started in 1985, with Fokker Space performing a study for ESA on a 10-meter (33 ft.) manipulator arm for the Hermes Space Plane, known as the Hermes Robotic Arm (HERA). It functioned similarly to the Canadarm on the American Space Shuttle; being located within the cargo bay and controlled from the cockpit. The arm was attached to the Hermes at the shoulder. Due to design problems, the Hermes cargo bay had to become a closed structure, with HERA being relocated an end structure called the Hermes Resource Module. After the decision to cancel the Hermes program, ESA and the Russian Space Agency, in 1992, agreed to use the HERA technology to service the Mir-2 Space Station. The name was then changed to the European Robotic Arm (ERA). It was here that a control computer was added to the arm's design, as well as two new operational consoles were designed, one for a cosmonaut in EVA, and one for a cosmonaut inside the station. The following year in 1993, Russia agreed to join in the merging of the Space Station Alpha with the Mir-2 into one International Space Station. Following this, the ERA elements of Mir-2 were adapted to the Russian segment of the station, and would act as the main assembly and servicing toll for the segment. Science Power Platform With the shift to the ISS, the ESA and Roscosmos signed a cooperation agreement about the ERA in 1996, and would have the arm be a part of the canceled Russian Research Module, with development beginning in 1998. Following the cancellation of the Research Module ERA was moved to the Russian Science Power Platform, which would have become the base of operations for the arm. Its first mission after being relocated to its storage position would have been to install part of the solar array