“Make no small plans for they have no power to stir the soul.”
On the morning of July 20th, I attended a celebration of Canada's role in the exploration of space, presented by the Canadian Space Agency as part of the 50th anniversary celebration for the Apollo 11 moon landing.
In many ways, the celebration is well deserved. The Canadian space budget is large for a country of our population - or, as astronaut Jenni Sidey-Gibbons put it, "We punch well above our weight as a spacefaring nation."
However, that money has been well spent. We're the 39th largest country by population, but we're in the top eight in terms of how many of our citizens have visited space, and our name has become synonymous with space robotics technology - literally, in the form of the
Canadarm. In fact, the first manmade object to touch the moon was made in Canada: the landing feet of the Eagle lander were designed and manufactured by Héroux-Devtek, a company based in Longueuil, Quebec.
The cross-country event featured presenters scattered across Canada:
Jenni Sidey-Gibbons in Vancouver,
Dave Williams in Regina, Jeremy Hanson in Ottawa, and
Joshua Kutryk in St. John's.
Retired astronaut
Robert Thirsk acted as MC for the morning from the Ontario Science Centre*, and David Saint-Jacques, recently returned to Earth after 204 days in space,
was the main speaker for the event at the Montreal Science
Centre in Quebec.
Speaking in a mix of English and French**, Saint-Jacques painted a fascinating and evocative picture of the current state of the art in space exploration, starting with the way in which the dream of being an astronaut had molded his life, and then looking at the actuality of that dream, finally boarding the Soyuz rocket, entering space, and gaining a whole new viewpoint on planet Earth.
"You know, you grow up as a child, and all you know is your family, and then you get a bit older and you realize there is a city outside. There’s a country. There’s a planet. And there’s another step that we take back in our perspective of the whole universe."
He then went on to discuss the
International Space Station, describing it as "The most complex machine ever built by mankind", but also commenting on the collaborative nature of the ISS, a project shared between countries that were at war for much of the 20th century: "But in space, we work together. And that’s perhaps the strongest thing for me about space exploration. "
For David, one of the most noteworthy things about the ISS is the manner in which it has allowed us to become permanent inhabitants of space, pointing out that, "Rather than go there for a few days and come back a bit dazed, now we live in space - for months!" He noted that there has been a constant human presence away from Earth for 15 years on the ISS: "That's not science fiction, that's reality!"
He then discussed the degree to which the impossible environment of outer space is hard on the human body, and the manner in which research on the ISS examines the challenges of life in zero gravity, information which will be vital as we move forward in exploring the solar system, and undertake longer missions in space.
"It’s a bit like testing our camping equipment in the backyard before we say, okay, it’s ready. I know how it works. Now I can go for real and do future exploration, and that is our future. "
One of the highlights of David's extended stay on the ISS was a spacewalk, "A highlight for any astronaut."
"I assumed I would feel very small. But actually, it’s very strange – not at all. The feeling it gave me… I was in my suit alone floating around Earth and I thought, wow, it’s amazing how big it is, the reach of the human mind. When you look at Earth, you try to imagine the size of a human being on Earth. It’s very small. But the human mind is able to go into space. The human mind invents machines that keep us alive in that environment. So I was a bit of a representative, a small piece of the human mind that is a huge, endless thing. And that really touched me."
He emphasized the degree to which future exploration will be performed in collaboration with robotic aids, an area where Canada has established itself as a world leader with the
Canadarm, Canadarm2, and DEXTRE.
One of those areas of future exploration is the upcoming
Gateway project. Canada's contribution to the new orbital lunar station will be the Canadarm3, the next generation of remote robotic manipulators.
"I think it’s a good example of the diversity of talent we have in this country. And Canadians are known for our creativity, our sense of innovation, our spirit of adventure and discovery. So I’m proud to be part of that team."
In answering questions from the audience, David spoke to the near future of space exploration, commenting that, "Space will surprise all of us in the next five years. The first people who will go to Mars have been born, but are still children."
In his opinion, as time moves forward, we will use space more and more to monitor and protect our planet.
"That will keep getting more and more important, our space infrastructure and the fact that we use space in our daily lives. So space is here to stay, and I’m glad that Canada is keeping in the leading group of nations in space exploration."
Following the national videoconferencing segment, Jenni Sidey-Gibbons chatted with the Vancouver crowd and took questions from the audience. When asked about whether she would prefer to pick a particular mission, her response was that "...there are so many opportunities, I'm just looking forward to it, I just want to go. I'm looking to the Moon, to
Gateway, or to Mars." In particular, she looks forward to that first moment of feeling zero gravity and seeing the earth from space.
Regarding Gateway, she explained that the Gateway station will not be manned all the time, and will be designed to be more autonomous than the ISS due to the higher radiation hazards of lunar orbit, wryly commenting that, "people are pretty fragile".
She also spoke to the astounding challenges that she's faced over the last two years of training, such as the rigorous physical testing: "It's not 'can you do a pull up', it's 'can you get our of a crashed helicopter upside down underwater in the dark"?
She sees no reason for Canada to develop its own launch capability: "We
rely upon our international partners for launching, as they rely on us
for robotics."
In her opinion, the international nature of the current exploratory environment is one of its greatest strengths. The first moon landing was accomplished in a spirit of competition, "redefining what we thought of as possible". She looks forward to seeing what comes as a result of cooperation instead of competition.
Her enthusiasm and commitment
are inspiring. Jenni, here's hoping you're the first Canadian to set foot
on the Moon - or maybe the first person on Mars.
That's one small step for a woman...
- Sid
A full version of the video conferencing portion of the event can be viewed on YouTube:
* It seemed ironic that we had a breakdown in the video streaming almost immediately after Bob Thirsk spoke to Canada's premier role in
telecommunications. As my mother would have commented, "...and yet we can put a
man on the Moon...".
** I think that closed captioned translation for
both English and French would have been a useful addition to the process
- I was quite pleased by how much of David's francophone commentary I was able to
understand (it's been a LONG time since high school French), but I bet
there were a lot of people in the Vancouver audience who didn't follow a
word of it.
