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ISS Mission STS-100-6A Canadarm2
mitd writes: "ISS Mission STS-100-6A will leave be leaving Thursday carrying the new Canadarm2 and Chris Hadfield who will become the first Canadian to walk in space. Chris gave an interview on CBC radio (MP3) . He talks about the new features of the Canadarm2 including its ability to walk around the ISS and do very delicate work that previously only astronauts could do." And MP3 interviews are a nice idea, too, versus streaming.
Heck, after the Avro Arrow program was cancelled in the late 50's, *legions* of Canadian aerospace engineers joined NASA.
;) But look it up - it's a fascinating story.
What was the Avro Arrow? If you have to ask, you're just not Canadian
By the way, a relative of mine lives next to the former chief test pilot of the Arrow. He's quite a guy.
It is good to see yet another country puts it's hat in the space arena. I hope to see more countries to contribute to the program. Main reason I do not want to see just the USA and russia out in space I prefer to hope that "The Next Frontier" will an earth venture not just a few countries.
Actually, I think it's people like Jacque Perizeau, Lucien Bouchard, Bernard Landry, and other Quebecois politicians of their ilk that create conflict. Their outrageous, insulting, stupid, and deceitful comments are shameful. The only times I've become upset enough to feel that Quebec should just fuck off and leave the country, is when those dumbass goons shoot off their mouths.
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Yeah for Canadia!
Unlike one of the commentators on this, I am prepared to be rude.
Do you know anything about the imperial histories of Sweden, Russia, and the wars in the Baltic that ended around 200 years ago? The idea that imperial powers never create anything is belied by the facts of the cultures and languages that they leave behind, not to mention the legal systems.
As for Canada, as a fellow Canadian, I never cease to be amazed by the sanctimony of some of my fellow citizens. The US spends more on aid, and takes more refugees and immigrants than most of the developed world combined. It also is exceedingly rich.
It can afford to "walk and chew gum" at the same time, and anyway, technological investments -- which you seem to take for granted -- have significant downstream benefits.
I shudder to think where we would all be if the historical "wisdom" of Canadian governments would have determined the fate, for example, of the Internet and other communications and computing technologies.
D.
ELITISM: It's always lonely at the top. Uninvited company is rarely welcome.
After travelling some of the rest of the world, I don't mind *one bit* the high taxes in Canada. It's worth it for the quality of life. If you don't think so, move on...
I do disagree with how some of our tax dollars are spent... but that's different.
And who cares if the PM is French? We don't hire him for his pronunciation. It's people like you who create the conflict between the French/English.
The most impressive thing about the new arm is its ability to inchworm across the surface of the station. The station has (will have?) several Power Data Grapple fixtures which either end of the arm can attach to. The arm can attach it's free end to one of the fixtures and then that becomes the fixed end, leaving the arm anchored at another location on the station. Repeat, and the thing can cruise over to the other side of the station.
I'm not sure how this interacts with the hand, though. Maybe the hand is put away somewhere while the arm is moving.
Greg
and I wonder, does it have "I am a CANADIAN!" stenciled somewhere on it? (I hope so.)
RTLinux is getting there, but the answer is no.
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I think you mean Opera. Oprah is a talk-show host.
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Um, I don't think that Marc Garneau made it into space. On Jan. 28th 1984 the Challenger blew up on takeoff. If he was on it then he died before he made it.
Disclamer - Opinion of Person
[ Space ] Posted by wh03v3r on Mon April 16, 12:26 AM
from the nice, but too bad it isn't mp3 dept.
pipeb0mb writes: "This article details how to build your own space shuttle from Radio Shack parts, obtain permission to fly it and get many lucrative endorsements, all for less than $200 USD! There is also an interview with the creator of this masterful plan (sorry, Windows Media). Already, dozens of universities and non-profit organizations have used this technology for fund raising, research and businesses that help further the space program, and thus humanity as a whole. Cool!" Too bad it's not MP3.
I am not sure what defines a spae power but in return for supplying Canadarm Canada receives about 2% of the total access time to the non-russian sections of ISS. Chris Hadfield is a very cool guy. You may remember that he is the dude that took his guitar up to MIR, which I think was alot more interesting than that American women he took her smarties whoops I mean M and M's. The ISS could not be built without the Canadarm. We as typical Canadians quitely create the infrastructure technology that make the big boys look good.
mitd -- Made in the Dark
mitd -- Made in the Dark
"One good thing about spam... You don't gotta answer it"
> The US spends more on aid, and takes more
> refugees and immigrants than most of the
> developed world combined.
I'm not sure what you mean by "most of the developed world combined", but let's browse the CIA World Factbook and concentrate on the G7 countries:
Economical Aid:
France: 6.3 billion (1997) - per capita: ~106
Japan: 9.1 billion (1999) - per capita: ~72
Germany:5.6 billion (1998) - per capita: ~67
Canada: 2.1 billion (1997) - per capita: ~67
UK: 3.4 billion (1997) - per capita: ~57
USA: 6.1 billion (1997) - per capita: ~22
Italy: 1.3 billion (1997) - per capita: ~22
Net Migration Rate:
Canada: 6.20/1000 (2000 est.)
Germany:4.01/1000 (2000 est.)
USA: 3.50/1000 (2000 est.)
Italy: 1.74/1000 (2000 est.)
UK: 1.07/1000 (2000 est.)
France: 0.66/1000 (2000 est.)
Japan: 0.00/1000 (2000 est.)
Wow. I didn't believe it until I saw their page myself. And the quotes they managed to obtain:
"This is space stuff."
"It's cutting edge."
Talk about dumbing down the news.
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The CanadaHand (SPDM) will have fifteen joints, two hands, stereo vision, and tactile sensors. Once it is installed, there will be very few EVAs on the space station.
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*sigh*
(insert various comments about how I wish that US citizens knew a bit more about their neighbor to the north...) Now, back to the question: Canada a space power? Well, first off, Chris Hadfield is *not* the first Canadian in space. He will be the first Canadian to make a spacewalk. However, Marc Garneau (who currently heads up the Canadian Space Agency) had the distinction of becoming the first Canadian in space on October 5, 1984. For more information about Canadians in space, you can take a peek at: Canadian Astronaut Missions
Here's the Main CSA page
Canada, being a relatively small country population-wise (approximately 31,000,000, although geographically we are the 2nd largest country in the world) doesn't have the resources to maintain a full space program like the US. What we *are* good at is providing infrastructure - the Canadarm (shuttle and ISS), communications hardware (we've become quite good at telecom over the years, due to the geography of the country), manpower and technology. This arrangement works well, as it complements the US launch systems...
So, as for Canada being a space power? Depends on your definition. We definitely have had multiple people in space (11 missions so far), we've got experience with space and space-systems... building the necessary hardware, and we've providing a great deal of that hardware to the US and other country's programs. Many of the comm satellites out there have Canadian tech in them. So, I would have to say yes, we are a space power of sorts - or at the very least, we *enable* the other space powers.
(as for not owning much of the sky - see the part above about comm sats and enabling technologies!)
It's nice to see that despite all of the funding cuts we've had here in Canada, we are still able to contribute a significant piece of technology to the international space station. And incidentally, thanks for noting that it's the Canadarm, not the "Big Arm" as CNN calls it.
Velox Versutus Vigilans
Make no mistake Canadian Nationalism does exist, but it is mostly a defense mechanism against the "American Ego".
Canada is not a 'melting pot' but a 'Mosaic' of i18n culture - Canada ends up being a country of "International Citizens", and we like that very much, but like the rest of the world we too dispise USofAmerican policy/politics/culture for their hubris, imperialism and 'capitalist crusades' and other obvious faults, so you'll find that a Canadian's 'nationalism' is mostly an effort to display disgust at USians... its realy very weird... but it works.
A common joke in Canada is something like: "Q) what is Canada's most common national trait? A) Were not fucking Americans!" That may not be it exactly, but i think that it conveys the idea.
The CBC ran a contest to come up with a canadian version of the expression "as american as apple pie". People had to phone in with suggestions for "as canadian as ...".
The handsdown winner was:
"As Canadian as possible under the circumstances"
There are a thousand forms of subversion, but few can equal the convenience and immediacy of a cream pie -Noel Godin
But you're using an economic scale of measurement to judge what is and is not "human" worth. Thinking in this way is exactly ( IMHO ) what makes for a world of economic disparity. There is more to the value and worth of human life than can be judged merely by economics. And creating an economic measuring stick brings all human life down to its most trivial and base level.
However, I don't think I can disagree with you that the amounts of money spent on the space program could have been used to feed and help people. This is perfectly true - it could have, just as in theory all the money which US citizens spend on coca-cola and pepsi in one week could feed all the malnurished poor children in america for a year. If only people would spend there money differently - if only these companies were more generous, if only, if only.
But your argument belies two important things:
There are a thousand forms of subversion, but few can equal the convenience and immediacy of a cream pie -Noel Godin
Yes, I'm from Toronto area.
I think there's definitely a sense in Canada that people want to make their identity known, perhaps because we feel like we all to easily get confused with americans. As a canadian living in europe I can tell you that happens quite a lot.
There's quite a difference I think between the urge to have a common identity, and actually having a common identity. This is maybe something that isn't apparent to an outsider, but canada is very fratured regionally - and most areas of canada have much more contact with the americans south of the border than we do with canadians from other regions. Also given that so much of our culture is shared with the US and is indistinguishable for the most part, there is a sense throughout the country that there is a void in terms of national identity in Canada - particularly felt whenever we deal with the whole issue of Quebec wanting to seperate.
There is also the notion ( perhaps its only a myth ?!? ) that canadians are modest, reserved and particularly non-nationalistic ( nationalism here being different from patriotism ).
So in the end all the flag waving mania - which I totally agree with, it does exist, but I think its more an attempt to fill that void, rather than an expression of a real heartfelt sentiment.
As for those Molson's ads go - I think those are largely a parody of all the above stuff. The whole thing of Joe ranting on and on about how he is different from americans is particularly clear that its a parody of that feeling of getting confused with americans so easily. Maybe its this kind of inside-joke that unites canadians more than anything else.
There are a thousand forms of subversion, but few can equal the convenience and immediacy of a cream pie -Noel Godin
I'm sorry buddy, but that's just crap. If we canadians felt like building some great nationilstic ventures, we would, cost doesn't even venture into it. How many nations of 30 million people have G7 status eh? Us and Australia that's who - and there are scads of countries with way more people who can't claim that. We have definitely got the money to burn on meaningless nationalism if we wanted. The reason we don't do it is two-fold: firstly canadians just don't have any nationalist sentiments, or very little. Hell most of us don't even know what it is we identify with as a country. Secondly the business and political culture of our country is so tight-assed and conservative that they refuse to invest in anything canadian for fear that it will flop, despite the overwhelming evidence that as such a small nation we have an insane overabundance of intelligent, talented and creative people.
"I would like to keep it that way. Armstrong's lunar vacation didn't do anything for the human race (after all, the Russians had already had a successful moon landing with the Luna-9 well ahead of his arrival)"
Yes, the russians did put plenty of unmanned landers on the moon - the key word here being 'unmanned'. NASA also sent lots of unmanned orbiters and landers on the moon before Armstrong and company went. There is a huge difference in sending a robot out into space and sending people - the requirements for sending human life into the emptiness of space is much much more demanding.
I think trying to measure achievements of this kind in terms of dollars & cents returns or immediate gratification to the masses is a very small-minded and limited way to look, and typical of the canadian business culture I mentioned above. The achievements of NASA in the last half century are certainly some of the most important feats humanity has ever accomplished. Putting human beings not only outside of the thin tiny little biosphere in which we evolved, but fully onto another celestial body ranks up there with the discovery of fire and the wheel as some of the most significant events in our evolution. I don't know if you've ever been to see any of the NASA stuff at Cape Canaveral or not - but I definitely have the sense that it is a place that will rank up their with the pyramids of Giza or the Great Wall of China thousands of years from now as one of the most important human landmarks. Don't belittle the great achievements of the species with petty economical arguments - that is an insult not only to the people who achieved true lasting greatness but an insult to humanity in general.
"The nordic nations, the Netherlands and Finland, in particular, have the best human rights and social development records on earth and they've never engaged in the kind of nationalistic nonsense from which the space race has proceeded (the Swedes have a space program, mind you). Canada (and the United States) should aspire to such progressiveness."
And for your information, all the countries you mentioned DO participate in the European Space Agency, which is actively involved in building large portions of the International Space Station, as well as numerous other projects. Taken from slide 2 of ESA's website presentation ( http://www.esa.int/presentation/ ):
There are a thousand forms of subversion, but few can equal the convenience and immediacy of a cream pie -Noel Godin
Hey, look above this post... an Alliance Party Troll !!!
ROTFL !
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The nordic nations, the Netherlands and Finland, in particular, have the best human rights and social development records on earth and they've never engaged in the kind of nationalistic nonsense from which the space race has proceeded (the Swedes have a space program, mind you). Canada (and the United States) should aspire to such progressiveness.
-Says Russia got to the moon first
You're right. I do. So does anybody else who didn't get their history of lunar exploration off of commemorative postage stamps. I apologise for disseminating fact where it may be found to conflict with American nationalist propaganda. Should you, however, wish to endanger your grip on nationalist myth with historical matter of fact some time, you can go to Britannica's article on it or any other site which will tell you that, as I said, the Luna 9 lander was the first achieve a successful moon-landing. To quote Britannica
Luna 2 (launched Sept. 12, 1959) was the first spacecraft to strike the Moon, and Luna 3 (Oct. 4, 1959) made the first circumnavigation of the Moon and returned the first photographs of its far side. Luna 9 (Jan. 31, 1966) made the first successful lunar soft landing. Luna 16 (Sept. 12, 1970) was the first unmanned spacecraft to carry lunar soil samples back to Earth. Thank you.
-Says landing on the moon was a waste anyway
What, exactly, is wrong with saying that the landing was a waste? The landing, in and of itself, was utterly pointless, I maintain. The research involved was valuable, but that could have been done, regardless, for a fraction of the cost. The remaining cash was spent on hubris.
-Says "architecture" in Washington, D.C. is "nationalist" (Hope he's not talking about the Vietnam War Memorial or Tomb of the Unknowns, he'll be stoking up some angry vets).
What purpose does the Washington Monument serve for humanity? It's not even the world's largest phallic symbol (that would be the CN Tower in Toronto). The same goes for the rows upon rows of Corinthian columns that line Washington streets. They're quite pretty, but that's all they are...I'm getting into a debate about aesthetics here, so I'll stop.
-Says the US should be less "nationalist". Meanwhile, we're expected to be the policemen, firefighters, and EMTs of the world. You can't do that without being a world power.
Why does a world power have to be nationalist? Furthermore, why does a policeman of neighbouring regions have to be a world power? Nigeria and South Africa do more for peace in Africa than the US ever will. They are hardly world powers. Finally, the US presence in many of these "police actions" has hardly been met warmly by the world. The 1954 Guatemalan police actions stands as one of the great tragedies of modern Latin American history. I'm not singling the US out, however. As a Canadian, I believe Canadians, too, should be far less nationalistic (especially the French, who verge on Soviet-style cultural nationalism). Canadian participation in the NATO bombing of Serbia (as a result of reports of genocide which were almost completely false) is something I'm not at all proud of.
Canada's already had a woman in space too. Ever hear of Roberta Bondar?
Anyway, having a man on the shuttle isn't so much of an issue. It's the first Canadian to be up working with the ISS, that's for sure. Canada's been involved with the space program for decades.
You can accomplish anything you set your mind to. The impossible just takes a little longer.
Did anyone know that it has QNX in it? Cool..
2.) This is not the first time a non-American has flown aboard the shuttle. See above point.
3.) This is not the first time a non-American or non-Soviet/Russian has performed a spacewalk. I'm not sure about earlier examples, but Thomas Reiter (German/ESA) performed a spacewalk outside of Mir in late 1995.
3.) Canada is not the only country to hitch a ride on the shuttle. Cosmonauts have flown aboard the shuttle (Sergei Krikalev, 1994), ESA representatives (Ulf Merbold, 1983), and even Mexico has hitched a ride (Neri Vela, 1985).
4.) Canada is #3 as far as putting people into space (behind Russia/CIS and the USA, obviously). All this means is that their total of 8 astronauts edges out Japan's 5. France and Germany seem to be tied for fifth with 4 each (the ESA has 11 total). To put this into perspective, as of 31 October 2000, there have been 397 people in orbit.
So yes, this is the first time that there'll be a spacesuit with a Canadian flag on the shoulder, and yes, this will install the latest and greatest Canadarm (complete with Slinky-like motion), but that's where the historical signifigance ends. I'm not trying to downplay the moment for the Canadians, I'm just trying to set the record straight. Some of the posts here seem to suggest that Canada will beat out China as the third space-faring nation.