November 2012 Archives

Space Station crew members Chris Hadfield, Roman Romanenko and Tom Marshburn placed flowers at the Kremlin Wall in Red Square in Moscow, Russia, as part of ceremonial activities leading to their launch to the International Space Station on Dec. 19 launch.

An independent Aerospace Review mandated by the government in its 2011 budget has completed an 11 month review of the aerospace sector and released its recommendations today. The two volume report, one focusing on the aerospace sector, the other on the space sector, could have far reaching consequences depending on whether the government pays heed to the recommendations.

The crew of Expedition 34 completed their training in Star City on November 27.

Kieran Carroll of Gedex and the UTIAS Space Flight Laboratory discussed the CARAVEL mission, a solar-sail-based nanosatellite mission to a near-earth asteroid at the 2012 Canadian Space Summit.

Jay Nadeau of McGill University discussed submersible microscopy for microbial detection and classification at the 2012 Canadian Space Summit with the thought of future applications for earth observation and potential and Jovian satellites missions.

Jack Mustard of Brown University discusses emerging concepts of habitability on Mars at the 2012 Canadian Space Summit.

Braden Stenning of UTIAS discussed planetary surface exploration using a network of reusable paths, a paradigm for parallel science investigations at the 2012 Canadian Space Summit.

Dr. Ed Cloutis of the University of Winnipeg discusses at the 2012 Canadian Space Summit the experience gained and new science results from the Mars methane analogue mission conducted in an abandoned asbestos mine in Quebec.

Cameron Dickinson of MDA provided an overview of the Next Generation Canadarm Project at the 2012 Canadian Space Summit. He discussed the goal of enabling future robotic servicing missions.

NASA has released a lengthy and good preflight interview with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Chris Hadfield who is scheduled for launch to the International Space Station on December 19th. He'll first serve as Expedition 34 flight engineer and then transition to Expedition 35 commander.

Michel Doyon provides an update on the space debris efforts of the Canadian Space Agency at the 2012 Canadian Space Summit.

Manon Larocque of the Canadian Space Agency provides a high level view of Canada's first 50 years in space at the Canadian Space Summit.

Dr. Gordon "Oz" Osinski moderated a panel on possible future directions for the Canadian Space Community. On the panel were Dr. Paul Sylvester, Memorial University, Dr. Pascale Ehrenfreund, Space Policy Institute, Dr. Jack Mustard, Brown University and Dr. Chris Herd, University of Alberta.

Dr. Pascale Ehrenfreund of the Space Policy Institute in Washington discussed space policy and Canada's role as an international partner in space exploration at the 2012 Canadian Space Summit.

Nick Sweet of Space Concordia describes his teams winning CubeSat entry and provides an insightful look into the Canadian Satellite Design Challenge at the 2012 Canadian Space Summit.

Peter Visscher of Ontario Drive and Gear presented this talk titled "Critical Mobility Technologies to Enable Long Term Lunar Surface Activity" at the 2012 Canadian Space Summit. Peter's company has been funded by the Canadian Space Agency to work on lunar rover prototypes. NASA has expressed an interest in using one of Canada's lunar rovers for a future moon mission as part of a Canadian contribution.

Dr. Ed Cloutis of the University of Manitoba, one of the scientific investigators, provides us with an overview of the OSIRIS-REx mission which will visit and sample asteroid 1999 RQ36.

Cameron Dickinson of MDA provides an overview of Canada's investment in space exploration surface mobility including three rover types, three technology payloads and three science instruments at the Canadian Space Summit. The goal is to get some, if not all of them, flown on an international mission to the moon, Mars or an asteroid.

Last week at the Canadian Space Summit Pete Worden was one of the invited keynote speakers. His topic was Small Satellites for Science and Other Uses and as an example: Earth Observation, promises and challenges. Among the technologies he discusses is the Interplanetary Internet and what the future might hold. The talk is about 30 minutes with a 12 minute question and answer session.

At the 2012 Canadian Space Summit held last week at the University of Western Ontario in London this keynote highlighted Canada's 50 years in space. Perry Edmundson of COM DEV International with help from Dr. David Kendall of the Canadian Space Agency and Dr. Lucy Stojak of HEC Montreal put together this excellent presentation.

As a member of the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, former NASA Astronaut Harrison 'Jack' Schmitt was the last man to step onto the Moon. This week, Schmitt descended on Western University in London, Ont. to participate in the 2012 Canadian Space Summit.

The Aerospace Review final report will be presented to Industry Minister Christian Paradis on Wednesday, November 28th* followed by a public release and press conference the following day at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa at 11:00 a.m.

In yet another delay, SpaceRef has learned that the launch of two important government satellites, NEOSSat and Sapphire along with two university built nanosatellites has been postponed from its December 12th launch date to January 12th. No reason has been released publicly for the delay.

Displaced from its home in Toronto's Downsview Park just over a year ago, the Canadian Air and Space Museum has started a fundraiser to open a new home at Toronto's Pearson Airport. Their goal? To raise $500,000 to refurbish and begin operations at their new home..

Over 500 Canadian aerospace professionals will meet to exchange ideas, discuss new business opportunities and plan for a changing global aerospace industry at the 2012 Canadian Aerospace Summit which is sponsored by the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada (AIAC). The summit will take place December 5 & 6 at the Ottawa Convention Centre with this years theme, Bold Steps for an Exceptional Future.

Late last Friday MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA) announced it had formally closed the deal to acquire Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) after it had received regulatory approval and secured the necessary financing. MDA announced in their quarterly call yesterday that on the same day of the closing it had been contacted by the Canadian government with a request for proposal for the build phase, Phase D, for the oft-delayed RADARSAT Constellation Mission.

SpaceRef is committed to providing timely, useful news and analysis on a wide variety of topics. Our web site focusing on business has been up until today called Commercial Space Watch. Today I'm happy to announce that in the first of many changes to the site we''re rebranding it as SpaceRef Business (spaceref.biz). Of course Canadian business news will still be featured on this site while SpaceRef Business will cover international business news from the U.S., abroad and of course Canada. Over the coming months you'll see increased business coverage and services on the site.