The Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SRMS), or Canadarm (Canadarm 1), was a mechanical arm used on the Space Shuttle to maneuver a payload from the payload bay of the orbiter to its deployment position and then release it. It can also grapple a free-flying payload, maneuver it to the payload bay of the orbiter and berth it in the orbiter. It was first used on the second Space Shuttle mission STS-2, which was launched November 13, 1981. After the destruction of Space Shuttle Columbia during STS-107, NASA began to always pair the Canadarm with the Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS), a boom containing instruments to inspect the exterior of the shuttle for damage to the thermal protection system.

The Canadarm is 15.2 metres (50 ft 3 in) long and 38 centimetres (15 inches) in diameter and has six degrees of freedom. It weighs 410 kg (905 pounds) by itself, and 450 kg (994 lb) as part of the total system. The Canadarm has six joints that correspond roughly to the joints of the human arm, with shoulder yaw and pitch joints; an elbow pitch joint; and wrist pitch, yaw, and roll joints. The end effector is the unit at the end of the wrist that actually grabs, or grapples, the payload. The two lightweight boom segments are called the upper and lower arms. The upper boom connects the shoulder and elbow joints, and the lower boom connects the elbow and wrist joints. The Canadarm attaches to the orbiter payload bay longeron at the shoulder. Power and data connections are located at the shoulder MPM.

Chris Austin Hadfield, O.Ont, MSC, CD (born 29 August 1959) is a Canadian astronaut from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) who was the first Canadian to walk in space. Hadfield has flown two space shuttle missions, STS-74 in 1995 and STS-100 in 2001. He has served as CAPCOM for both Space Shuttle and International Space Station (ISS) expeditions. He is currently training for a long duration stay on board the ISS, which will include command of Expedition 35 in 2012–13. He will be the first Canadian to command the ISS. He is enthusiastic about the prospects for a manned mission to Mars, and when asked if he would consider a one-way journey to Mars to be the first to visit, he said "I would be honoured to be given the opportunity."

Chris Hadfield was born in Sarnia, Ontario. His parents are Roger and Eleanor Hadfield who currently reside in Milton, Ontario. Hadfield was raised on a corn farm in southern Ontario and became interested in flying at a young age—from his own words in the interview to STRF.RU, he came to the idea of being astronaut when he was nine on the day of Apollo moon landing, which he had seen on TV then. Hadfield is married to his high-school girlfriend Helene Hadfield, and they have three adult children together.