Today we’re introducing our new Tuesday feature, Short Cuts. These are short notes on awarded contracts, new tenders, upcoming notable events and any noteworthy news. If you would like to submit a Short Cut, please email us at [email protected] with the words Short Cuts in the subject line.

For the fourth consecutive year, a Canadian led Mars Sample Return Simulation will begin today in preparation for a future international Mars sample return mission. The simulation brings together over 50 scientists and engineers from across Canada and international collaborators from the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom.

The Liberal government has been in power for a year and it is now becoming clear the way forward for the space sector is through the yet to be presented Innovation Agenda the government is currently seeking input on. If the buzzword innovation hasn’t been defined, redefined and used enough for you, well get ready, you’re going to get a steady diet of it starting …

Today the Canadian Space Agency awarded Carré Technologies of Montreal a contract worth as much as $2.4 million over 18 months to continue work on Astroskin, a bio-monitoring system which Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques will use on his six month mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

The Liberal government has decided that it’s time to replace the current Space Advisory Board appointed by the previous government with a new one. However there’s a twist. This time around they’re allowing anyone who’s qualified to apply.

Anyone who has watched a science fiction movie about travelling in space knows that the weightless environment of microgravity on a space ship affects your ability to navigate and orient yourself. But in real life, the impact of microgravity on an astronaut’s brain both in space and after returning to earth has received very little scientific attention.

Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut David Saint-Jacques returned from Russia where he has been undergoing training for his upcoming mission to the International Space Station to present Inuksuk High School with a Canada from Space giant floor map and a new educational activity designed for northern communities.

The International Astronautical Congress is the pre-eminent international meeting of the year for the global space community. Global leaders from national space agencies, commercial companies, engineers, scientists, and student gather together to take the pulse of the community and to do business. This year, the 67th International Astronautical Congress was held in Guadalajara, Mexico.

This week the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) issued an announcement of opportunity (AO) for researchers to participate in a stratospheric balloon flight in Alice Springs, Australia in April 2017. The AO is part of the Flight for the Advancement of Science and Technology (FAST) program.