Canadian contributions to space exploration

1. Canadian contributions to space exploration

2. International Space Station • Since 1998, orbits 400 km above Earth • Largest spacecraft ever built • Canadarm2 • Robotic device • One of three designed and built in Canada by a Canadian company • Moves astronauts around as they work outside the space station • Can bend around corners and grasp objects with computer-controlled fingers

3. International Space Station CANADARM2

4. Satellites • Canada was the 3rd country in the world to launch a satellite • Called Alouette 1 • Collected data about extreme upper regions of atmostphere • Launched a bunch of satellites called Anik • Started in 1972 • Anik 1 gave Canada 12 television channels  first country with a satellite in geostationary orbit!! :o • Extremely important for connecting northern parts with rest of country • Anik F3 (2007) is 5900kg, provides broadcast and broadband internet services across North America

5. Timeline • 1918 – at 1.83m, largest telescope in the world at Dominion Astrophysical Observatory in Victoria, BC • Beginning of serious gvt funding in research in astronomy • 1935 at U of T  another big telescope • Showed beginning of universities helping research • 1951 – Canadian Impact Crater Program • Impacts have a profound impact to life on Earth • 1960 – discovery by Canadians of complex molecules in space • 1985 – Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics opened  world leader in understanding planetary systems, stars and life cycles, origin and evolution of universe

6. Sudbury Neutrino Observatory • World’s more powerful detector of neutrinos (particles emitted by nuclear reactions in stars and supernovas) • Solved the solar neutrino problem • 2000Canadian scientists recovered a meteorite in BC from a lake • Most primitive meteorite EVER!! • About 4.5 billion years old – how old we expect our solar system to be! :o