Close-up image of Rokviss on the International Space Station

Rokviss is Germany's first space robotics experiment. For the last five and a half years – from 22 March 2005 until 2 November 2010 – this robot arm, measuring 50 centimetres in length and weighing seven kilograms, has been operating on the outside of the Svezda module on the ISS. In this time it has completed somewhere in the region of 500 successful tests. With its two articulated joints and a metal finger, Rokviss has performed high-precision work. This image of Rokviss was taken during a space walk on 12 March 2007.