October 2009 Archives

The European Space Agency will be launching a pair of satellites early Sunday evening at 8:50 p.m. EST on a Russian Rockot launcher from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in northern Russia that feature technology demonstrations from three Canadian Companies.

Here is the full transcript of the of keynote address, presented by the Minister of State (Science and Technology) Gary Goodyear to delegates at the inaugural Canadian Science Policy Conference being held October 28th - 30th in Toronto.

NASA today successfully tested the agency's next-generation spacecraft and launch vehicle system, called Ares I-X. The flight test provided NASA with an early opportunity to test and prove flight characteristics, hardware, facilities and ground operations associated with the Ares I.

Last week in space for Canada was all about reacting to the final release of the Review of U.S. Human Spaceflight Plans Committee ("The Augustine Report") and next week in space for Canada is likely to focus on the Canadian Science Policy Conference, being held in Toronto from October 28th - 30th but that leaves a gap this week where we can provide a brief history of Canadian space activities and develop a little bit of context for some of the choices that were made in the past and could be made today.

Canada is mentioned five times in the US Human Spaceflight Plans Committee Report. Three are general references to Canada's participation in the space station Freedom and the International Space Station. The other mentions are more significant.

The Review of U.S. Human Spaceflight Plans Committee has released it's long awaited report (PDF) and it states that the U.S. human spaceflight program appears to be on an unsustainable trajectory. However if NASA had a less-constrained budget with increasing annual expenditures by approximately $3 billion in real purchasing power they could sustain a viable exploration program.

NASA's Human Space Flight Review Committee chaired by Norman Augustine will hold a press conference at 1 p.m. EDT today to discuss the committee's final report which is being released today. The highly anticipated report will have a significant affect on future US manned space flight and consequently affects Canada's space program.

This week in space for Canada is essentially "All about the Benjamin's" although it only indirectly refers to the fourth single released from the Shaun "Puffy" Combs album No Way Out.

The US space program is scheduled to fly its last Space Shuttle mission late next year meaning Canada's astronauts will have to ride a Russian Soyuz rocket if they are to visit the International Space Station (ISS). The Russians have been charging space tourists $35 million US of late and will be charging the US space program $51 million US per flight starting in 2016 to fly on a Soyuz.

This week in space for Canada is much more boring than last week and will likely not focus on any one specific professional entertainer.

Instead, we're going to highlight those who are moderating space focused policy documents, discussions and commentary, providing access to important information and contributing to the development of new relationships among existing players which may or may not eventually compensate for the seemingly inevitable slow self destruction of the present US government funded American space program.

Guy Laliberté the the founder of Cirque du Soleil landed in the Soyuz TMA-14 spacecraft
on the steppes of Kazakhstan earlier today after completing his 11 day Poetic Social Mission. Returning with Laliberté were International Space Station Expedition 20 Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Michael Barratt who have just completed a six-month stay.

This week in space for Canada is all about Canadian billionaire and Cirque du Soleil entrepreneur Guy Laliberté, his trip to the International Space Station and his upcoming presentation from the ISS on October 9th titled "Moving Stars and Earth for Water" which is part of his plan to raise awareness of water-related issues through the ONE DROP Foundation.

On October 5, 1984 astronaut Marc Garneau became the first Canadian in space as he was aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger on STS-41G. A quarter of a century later another 8 Canadians have flown into space for a total of 16 flights including the current mission by space participant Guy Laliberté.

Canada's newest astronauts Jeremy Hansen and David St-Jacques are undergoing training and have yet to be assigned to future missions.

Guy Laliberté arrived at the International Space Station with his fellow crew mates Flight Engineers Jeff Williams and Maxim Suraev at 6:57 a.m. EDT this morning. Laliberté will be on the ISS until 9:05 p.m. EDT on October 10 conducting his Poetic Social Mission.