I have started a journal of my time spent at the canadian space agency this summer. I'll basically be letting you know what it's like to work at the Canadian equivalent of NASA and I'll post new stuff every day about spacey stuff.
Again, this is shameless self promotion but this time I promise that I will not flake out on you. Really, I mean it.
Anyway, my first post was about the atlantis launch today which I got to watch from the mission control centre.
Well first of all he gets fired. Then they usually get deported.
In fact there was a Russian spy we caught in 2008 who was going under the name "Paul William Hampel" and spying on the Canadian Space Agency.
I haven't heard anything else about him though so he could well have been killed. If that was the case since he was caught in montreal he was likely executed by way of quebecois guillotine, which is essentially a guillotine but with a hockey skate as the blade.
Cool! Glad you didn't press any buttons and mess anything up!. Seriously though I'm kinda jealous. I've always liked space but it seems to really be on the decline in terms of excitment and value in the USA. Not many people care anymore.
Have fun. Are you thinking about a career in the space industry?
I'm curious, and I know this is really ignorant, but what exactly has the Canadian Space Agency done in terms of actually putting equipment and humans in space?
I was recently struck by the incredibility of human space flight, in general. It is very cool.
We're number one in the world in terms of space robotics and fine motion guidance systems.
We built Canadarm, Canadarm2, DEXTRE and the mobile servicing system which are the three robots that actually build the space station. We've also supplied a large number of modules to the ISS as well as guidance systems for radar and gps satellites as well as the hubble telescope and its replacement the James Webb space telescope.
In addition we often provide imaging software and hardware to mars rover projects.
In terms of actually putting all that stuff up there with the exception of a few satellites all of our stuff has been put up in partnership missions but without Canadarm 1 & 2 and DEXTRE the ISS couldn't have been built so if you look at it that way we put the ISS in space.
EDIT: Bonus, I met an astronaut in the cafeteria today
We're number one in the world in terms of space robotics and fine motion guidance systems.
We built Canadarm, Canadarm2, DEXTRE and the mobile servicing system which are the three robots that actually build the space station. We've also supplied a large number of modules to the ISS as well as guidance systems for radar and gps satellites as well as the hubble telescope and its replacement the James Webb space telescope.
In addition we often provide imaging software and hardware to mars rover projects.
In terms of actually putting all that stuff up there with the exception of a few satellites all of our stuff has been put up in partnership missions but without Canadarm 1 & 2 and DEXTRE the ISS couldn't have been built so if you look at it that way we put the ISS in space.
EDIT: Bonus, I met an astronaut in the cafeteria today
Tiny assembly robots are going to build spaceships for Mars colonization. Isn't it great?
