The shuttle’s Remote Manipulator System was better known by the nickname Canadarm.
Officially called the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System, Canadarm was a robotic arm installed on Space Shuttle orbiters. Astronauts operated it from the aft flight deck to deploy, retrieve, inspect, and maneuver payloads in the cargo bay and in orbit.
Canada developed the arm for NASA through a partnership involving the National Research Council and Spar Aerospace, now associated with MDA Space. The name Canadarm reflects its Canadian origin and became the familiar public term for the system. Its first in-space testing took place on Columbia’s STS-2 mission in 1981, followed by operational work on STS-3.
Canadarm is often confused with Canadarm2, the larger robotic arm installed on the International Space Station. Canadarm2 is a separate system, while the original Canadarm flew on the shuttle. The two were famously used together during station construction, an interaction sometimes called the “Canadian handshake.”