December 2012 Archives

Chris Hadfield's first recording from the International Space Station. You can hear the slight buzz of the station's fans in the background.

The Soyuz TMA-07M carrying new Expedition 34 crew members Chris Hadfield, Roman Romanenko and Tom Marshburn docked to the International Space Station's (ISS) at 9:09 a.m. ET on Friday. The hatches between the Soyuz and the ISS were opened at 11:37 a.m. and Expedition 34 Commander Kevin Ford and Flight Engineers Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin welcomed their new crewmates aboard.

The launch of several critical Canadian satellites has once again been delayed. Scheduled for a January 12th launch, the new target date is mid-February according to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). During thermo-vacuum testing an issue came up with the primary payload on the launch, the joint Indian-France satellite SARAL.

NASA Public Affairs Officer Kelly Humphries interviews Tim Braithwaite, Canadian Space Agency (CSA) Liaison Office Manager. The CSA Liaison Office is a small office at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) and the manager works with the space station program to ensure the agencies are working and communicating effectively together.

On the day that Chris Hadfield soared into space for his five month mission to the International Space Station comes this National Post story; "Stephen Harper steps in to save Radarsat upgrade after budget cutbacks threatened satellite program's future." I almost chocked on my laughter at such an ironic headline. After all, wasn't it Harper and the government that almost scrapped the program?

At 7:12 a.m. ET this morning the Soyuz TMA-07M rocket with the Expedition 34 crew of Chris Hadfield, Tom Marshburn (USA) and Roman Romanenko (Russia) launched to the International Space Station on Expedition 34 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a historic mission for Hadfield and Canada's space program.

CSA Astronaut Chris Hadfield describes in vivid detail what it feels like to launch aboard a Soyuz rocket. His appointment with the Soyuz TMA-07M will be held on December 19th at 7:12 a.m. EST

The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) released it's annual State of the Canadian Space Sector Report earlier this month with its usual lack of notification. The report was supposedly released on December 3rd just days after the Aerospace Review report was released and just a couple of days before the Aerospace Summit. The question is why didn't the CSA issue a press release about the report?

The following article is a free sample from the current issue of Space Quarterly Magazine. It is our hope that if you enjoy this article you will consider subscribing to the magazine.

An immersive, interactive exhibit featuring many aspects of our past, present and future exploration of the solar system and beyond is being featured at the Ontario Science Centre.

The following article is a free sample from the current issue of Space Quarterly Magazine. It is our hope that if you enjoy this article you will consider subscribing to the magazine.

The December 2012 edition of Space Quarterly Magazine is now available. Here are the table of contents for the Canadian and U.S. editions.

Expedition 34/35 Soyuz Commander Roman Romanenko, NASA Flight Engineer Tom Marshburn and Canadian Space Agency Flight Engineer Chris Hadfield participated in traditional ceremonies at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia outside Moscow Dec. 6. Afterward, they departed for the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to complete training for their launch to the International Space Station in the Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft Dec. 19.