SpaceQ Space news and analysis.
The latest Terranauts podcast happens to be the 13th episode and it coincides with the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 13 mission. So naturally Iain provides a unique and insightful look at the mission.
He also concludes the Stan Rogers story which was mentioned in the last episode. Oh, and did I mention there’s singing?
Listen in.
Also, if you’re interested in Apollo 13, last week NASA released a new documentary with new interviews, restored footage and synchronized audio from Mission Control. You can watch the video on SpaceQ and read our story.
Listen to and Subscribe to the Podcast
You can subscribe to the podcast using your favourite podcast app (iOS and Android). For apps like Pocket Cast or OverCast you can search using the podcast title SpaceQ.
The podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and SoundCloud.
There’s another interesting link with Stan Rogers in, hopefully, Canadian space history. Stan spent his childhood summers in his mother’s hometown, a familial home which was a source for much of his Maritime-themed songs including Fogerty’s Cove, Barrett’s Privateers, The Mary Ellen Carter, and The Bluenose. Since 1997, the town has held an annual Stan Rogers Festival which is probably the largest contemporary event for which the historic fishing port is known.
But there is a new contender for the town’s fame. It is the approved site for what will hopefully be Canada’s first orbital launch site. The town, of course, is Canso, Nova Scotia.
There’s another more tenuous link. The recent repatriation of Canada’s top space firm, MDA, was accomplished by a consortium led by Northern Private Capital, the investment vehicle for John Risley, a Nova Scotian who made his billions as co-founder of Clearwater Seafoods who owned the fishing rights to most kinds of shellfish including all lobster in the Atlantic region, including Canso. Risley’s partners in acquiring MDA include the Canso Investment Counsel, an organization named for the Consolidated PBY Catalina amphibious aircraft. The PBY-5A variant was one of the aircraft used by the Royal Canadian Air Force in WWII. In accordance with contemporary British practice of naming seaplanes after coastal port towns, the RCAF’s PBY-5A was name after — you guessed it — the town of Canso, Nova Scotia.