While the mission will be uncrewed — the only occupants aboard the towering, 32-story Space Launch System (SLS) and attached Orion capsule are three mannequins — it’s the first moonlighting for a manned spacecraft since Apollo 17 in December 1972. The goal of the Artemis program is to send humans back to the moon — and eventually to Mars. But unlike the Apollo program of the 1960s, Artemis is an international effort. And Canada has no small role in getting humans back into deep space. We are building a new Canadarm, a lunar rover and sending astronauts. Our country’s role is bigger and better than ever in our quiet, but storied, past with space exploration. Canada was the third country to have a satellite in space. We have sent astronauts to live and work in space. We have provided critical instruments to Mars rovers and instruments to a spacecraft that mapped a distant asteroid. We are partners in the recently launched James Webb Space Telescope, providing the instrument that guides it. And, of course, we built the iconic robotic arms — Canadarm and Canadarm2 — that have been used on the space shuttles and the International Space Station, as featured on the $5 bill. And we’re going to the moon.
What’s next
Artemis I’s mission is to test the SLS rocket and Orion capsule. But after that comes Artemis II, scheduled for 2024 or 2025, when four astronauts will travel to Orion and orbit the moon. Inside that capsule will be an as-yet-unnamed Canadian astronaut – the first to travel into deep space. NASA also has plans to build the Lunar Gateway, a small space station that will orbit the moon. Canada is contributing the Canadarm3, built by MDA, to this project — and the new arm is much more advanced than the originals. This rendering envisions what the Lunar Gateway space station will look like, along with Canadarm3, provided by Brampton, Ont.-based MDA. (MDA) “Canadarm2 today is on the International Space Station. It’s about 400 kilometers from Earth, so a couple of hours’ drive if you go straight,” said Holly Johnson, vice president of space and robotics operations at MDA. “Canadarm3 will orbit the moon at the Lunar Gateway, which is 400,000 kilometers from Earth.” With this extended trip, he said, CSA is focused on “evolving” Canadarm’s intelligence and artificial intelligence. “It has to be more autonomous, it has to be smarter, because communication takes longer to go between Earth and the Moon.” Just as the first two Canadarms were critical to the construction and maintenance of the International Space Station, Canadarm3 will be critical to the construction of the new Lunar Portal. MDA is also working with Lockheed Martin and General Motors to provide a robotic arm for a future lunar rover. And as for lunar rovers, Canadian companies are also working on one that can spend two weeks in the frigid temperatures of the lunar night.
“butt”
“Canada’s role in space – we’ve been a player from the beginning,” said Ken Podwalski, executive director of space exploration and Lunar Gateway program manager at the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). “I just don’t think Canadians … realize how awesome we are. I don’t think they realize the things we’ve done with the shuttle program, with our astronauts, with science, with our satellite programs, Earth observation, the International Space Station “, he said. “We’ve been kicking for 25 years in this program and we’ve never failed. We’ve never failed. We’re absolutely a player in space exploration. And Canadians need to know that.” Canada may not be as big or as populous as the U.S., Europe or China — some of the major players in space — but we’re certainly mighty, said Chris Gainor, an amateur astronomer and space historian. “On a per capita basis, we don’t spend as much as Americans,” he said. “But where we deal with space, we’ve always been kind of ahead. We were able to succeed when we put our minds to it and put some resources into it. “I think that’s the important message: It might not be in our heads what we’re doing, but we’re actually playing in the big leagues at a bargain price, I’d say.”
A growing $470 billion industry
Canada’s efforts are also about more than just going to space, according to those in the industry. It’s also about investing in the future and jobs here at home. “The global space sector was $470 billion in 2021 — and growing. In Canada, it generates $5 million in revenue and creates 20,000 jobs,” said Lisa Campbell, president of the Canadian Space Agency. “It’s also growing,” he said. “More and more young people are attracted to the space sector, because it is exciting, interesting. It is science, technology, mathematics, law, project management, finance — you name it. And there will be a huge demand for people in the future to work in the space sector” . While it may not be immediately obvious that investments in space are helping us here at home, over the course of 65 years there have been benefits on Earth, including wireless vacuum technology, memory foam and improved eye procedures. Canada’s contributions also backfired: Canadarm technology was modified and used to support medical robotics, performing thousands of procedures in hospitals on Earth, Johnson noted. The CSA also hosts a Deep Space Health Advisory Council, which aims to learn more about human health in space, with the goal of innovating here at home. And the agency launched the Deep Space Healthcare Challenge, seeking to create new diagnostic technologies that will serve both deep space missions and those living in remote communities. “As we understand how to maintain human health and feed people further into space, it also helps us with the challenges we have here on Earth with remote communities, food safety and disease detection and prevention and treatment,” he said. Campbell. “Many of the technologies we develop in space also help us here on Earth.” The new race to the moon is now underway, Podwalski said, and Canada is a big part of it — and should make it known. “As Canadians,” he said, “we don’t brag enough.”
