News

After yesterday’s announcement that veteran Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield would be flying on a six month long flight and serve as Commander of the International Space Station Hadfield’s sons promptly helped him setup a Twitter account and Facebook page, a first for a Canadian astronaut.

Our Prime Minister again endorses RadarSat Constellation, then reminds us that he increased Canadian Space Agency (CSA) funding in March 2010 so funding delays are now “a thing of the past,” just so long as nobody needs any cash until next year, which may or may not be good news for Com Dev International which warned investors on August 26th of continued cost-growth problems with …

The Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Science and Technology) announced today at the Canadian Space Agency headquarters that veteran astronaut Chris Hadfield will be Canada’s first Commander of the International Space Station and only the second Canadian astronaut to participate in a six month long duration mission aboard the International Space Station. Robert Thirsk was the first Canadian to spend six month on the …

The Canadian Space Agency announced this morning that they will hold a press conference tomorrow to announce an important mission for one of Canada’s astronauts. It is expected that the Canadian Space Agency will announce that veteran Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield will be introduced as the first Canadian Commander of an expedition to the International Space Station.

Call it an orbiting Edward Scissorhands. Although Dextre’s first major robotic work on the International Space Station this month was delayed due to a snagged truss, both the Canadian Space Agency and NASA anticipate it will replace spacewalkers for minor outside tasks during and after the station’s construction. Launched in 2008 aboard STS-123, the Canadian robotic hand – built by MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates in …

Today the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) issued through the tender service MERX a request for two separate firms to carry out a study on the RADARSAT Next Generation Options Study. The primary objective of the study work is to perform an in-depth evaluation of the Department of Defence (DND) requirements for surveillance radars and identify implementation options in a system that would enter into operation …

The Winnipeg Free Press reminds us that the Canadian aerospace industry has always straddled a dense political minefield while European based independent advocate Catherine Laplace-Builhe promotes the Canadian Space Agency (or at least she did until US based Facebook shut her down) and the Canadian contractor for the upcoming ExoMars mission reminds me personally that they consider their Canadian contribution to be “significant” and something …

See the steps of Dextre’s final exam. Working from his perch on the end of Canadarm2, Dextre will close in on his target, unbolt the first circuit breaker and remove it. He will then back up slightly to give himself more room to rotate at the waist in order to align his free hand with the second circuit breaker, and will grab it and slide …

Entrevue avec Mathieu Caron, Dextre Contrleur de vol. Dextre est le robot le plus perfectionn jamais construit selon l’agence spatiale canadienne. Il est d’effectuer des travaux courants d’entretien et de rparation, comme le changement de batteries et le remplacement de camras l’extrieur de l’ISS.

Leslie Sponder is an Operations Engineer and Mission Planner who works with the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator, or as it is better know as, Dextre. Dextre is the most sophisticated space robot ever built according to the Canadian Space Agency. It is designed to help in maintaining the health of the International Space Station (ISS). Dextre’s role is to perform maintenance work and repairs like …