Canada has been urged to go forth and explore the final frontier. The experts tell Tom Spears that the secret to the country's present and future successes is that we're really good at perfecting difficult-to-perfect technology.
Article from Ottawa Citizen
By Tom Spears
Monday, May 19, 2008
When the minister in charge of Canada's space program started talking about a new Canadian drive to space recently, it raised questions about whether there's a new grand vision for space.
No, there isn't. But that's almost an afterthought, and one that doesn't matter much. Canada is busy in space without any grand visions.
Think "small picture" instead, say the real experts — the people who are actually building Canadian satellites and lasers and robots and all the rest. Including, for instance, Iain Christie, president of Neptec Design Group in Ottawa.
"The secret to Canada's (space) success is it's not really a question of us having a lot of headline acts. We're really, really good at certain things that are difficult to perfect — such that other people don't bother to perfect that technology."
That is where the industry expects to see Canada's expansion, assuming the kind words from Industry Minister Jim Prentice turn into firm support.
Mr. Prentice urged Canada to go forth and explore space the way the Elizabethans explored the oceans, building our economy along the way.
He added in an interview Friday that he's serious about pressing ahead, though the detailed plans and financial decisions "will be made over the course of the next year or more."
Canada "has done quite remarkable things in space," he said. Now, as NASA is approaching the end of its shuttle program (in 2010), there's a host of decisions to make about where to go next, and how much to spend.
He sees three current areas of strength in particular: Producing astronauts, building robotics and making communications satellites and radar satellites. Those must all continue, he says.
In particular, he said satellites are essential for people living in the North, and also in times of trouble; during the recent New Brunswick floods, Radarsat-1 and the new Radarsat-2 provided pictures of the flooding to allow better disaster planning.
Expansion in space is a nice idea, the private sector says.
Late last month, the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute held its annual meeting in Montreal, and everyone was marvelling at Canada's odd approach to space: Our space industry thrives on exports.
U.S. space industries sell heavily to NASA or the U.S. military. Japanese companies sell to Jaxa, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency; French and Italians to the European Space Agency; yet Canadian companies sell 85 per cent of their products abroad.
"Which partly explains why we have so many strong companies," says Mr. Christie. To survive in the export business, you have to beat U.S. companies in the U.S. market.
"If the government ever did start putting in even modest amounts of support compared to other jurisdictions, we have something that should be capable of generating a lot of economic leverage for Canada. In point of fact, it already does."
But where would Canada expand?
How about satellite servicing? Mr. Christie suggests.
Today, a company launches a satellite and waits for it to fail. It's like buying a car and driving it until it breaks — no oil changes, not even a chance to refill the gas tank.
"One area that I know has got a fair bit of interest, and one that I know the Canadian Space Agency is exploring, is the servicing of satellites. To be able to extend the life of satellites ... by providing extra fuel or re-boost services so they can continue to operate."
This would demand something like Neptec's Space Vision System to guide a robotic space vehicle that might use mini-Canadarms to repair or refuel a satellite in orbit.
"If Canada were to provide that technology, I think it would have a market worldwide."
Then there's the moon and Mars. The United States says it will definitely build the spaceships, but it wants partner countries to join in. Not just our robotics, but our uses of lasers in space (to detect things invisible by normal eyes).
Guidance systems to steer a lunar or Martian rover.
And mining technology: Norcat in Sudbury designed the Canadrill for drilling into the ice and rocks of another planet with minimal battery power. Focused sunlight could release oxygen, hydrogen and other gases from the moon's surface, helping to produce rocket fuel right where it's needed.
"You take terrestrial technologies that we're good at (like mining) and use them in space," says Richard Herd, a planetary materials expert at Natural Resources Canada. "These things get enhanced in space, and those improvements get brought back to Earth."
There are even greenhouses; professor Mike Dixon of the University of Guelph has been researching how to grow vegetables in space.
Just down the road from Guelph, in Cambridge, sits a company that's eager to expand somewhere — anywhere — in space. COM DEV is the largest Canadian-based designer and manufacturer of space hardware subsystems. And it has a wish list already.
"I'm delighted to see that kind of language," president John Keating says of the minister's recent speech. He hopes it's backed up by an actual shift in government policy.
So, where to start?
COM DEV has proposed a batch of plans, most of them involving sensing things.
- "Maritime awareness," which means finding out which ship is where.
Ships at sea broadcast a signal periodically, identifying themselves and giving their position and course. It helps prevent collisions, but the signal doesn't travel very far.
COM DEV has a way of picking up these signals from space, potentially giving countries a way of tracking ships out in the middle of an ocean.
Pair that up with Radarsat, which takes pictures that show, for instance, oil spills, and Canada could detect marine polluters. Or illegal fishing. Or drug smugglers.
Yet without federal support, COM DEV runs the risk of seeing European competitors overtake it in this critical area.
- Satellites can also sense weather, in many cases. The United States is interested in a COM DEV project that provides information on wind speeds, especially in the North, he says. The project is called Chinook/SWIFT.
But where, Mr. Keating asks, has Canada's government been?
"There's been very little activity so far from the Canadian government even though all these things are very well aligned with Canadian policy."
The policy: To make space products that relate to our sovereignty and security, or protect the environment, or create wealth. So COM DEV sells equipment abroad. It is successful, he says, "but I would say not with a lot of support from the Canadian government."
As for the Elizabethans, he notes that Elizabeth herself was a booster of exploration. "I'm sure she didn't just stand on the shore and clap her hands.
"All we need is some programs and some spending and we're ready to rock 'n' roll in space."
For the latest science news, see Tom Spears' Dark Matter blog at ottawacitizen.com