Line of Business
Canadian technology shields astronauts from close encounters of the worst kind
As NASA's ageing fleet of space shuttles wrap up work on the International Space Station, Canadian technology continues to play a crucial role in keeping astronauts safe. Whether it's inspecting the belly of a shuttle for launch-related damage or moving the space station out of the way of a piece of space debris, Canada is behind the technology. Astronaut Chris Hadfield talks about Canada's space legacy.3/18/2009 6:00:00 AM By: Brian Jackson
Last month, two satellites collided in orbit and exploded into a huge cloud of debris that was sent hurtling around the Earth at a speed of 10 km per second.
It was the fist collision of its kind, and almost precipitated disaster for three crew members aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
On Monday, those astronauts sat huddled in the "escape capsule" of the station while a 10-cm piece of that debris hurtled by the station. While it seems small, it was moving fast enough to puncture a hole in the ISS. It was close enough that NASA took the precaution of moving the crew to the always-ready Russian Soyuz capsule, just in case they had to evacuate.
The debris passed without incident. And that was just another day in the life of space exploration, says Chris Hadfield, an astronaut with the Canadian Space Agency.
See related article and video: Canada's pivotal role in new space adventure
"We have these encounters with space debris all the time," he says. "The station is always peppered by little impacts."
Hadfield remembers seeing an antenna returned from the ISS after a couple of years in space. The antenna was about the size of a fridge and pock-marked from 42 different impacts with micrometeorites.
There are about 18,000 particles being tracked at any given time that could pose a threat to the ISS. When the debris comes within a certain radius of the space station, the decision must be made to either move the station out of the way, or get the astronauts to the safest area and hope that it passes by.
Space faring is a dangerous business and more than a decade of work on the largest multi-national construction project in low Earth orbit hasn't gone by without risk.
The odd close call is expected. The rare disaster – space shuttle Columbia's loss upon its re-entry in 2005 – is never forgotten.
The most precise of high-grade technological instruments are relied upon to keep astronauts as safe as possible as they travel to the ISS and back to Earth again.
And Canada has played a key role in supplying that technology -- from a camera that inspects the underbelly of the shuttle for damage, to the communications equipment that makes it possible to move the entire ISS by remote control.
Canada's reputation as a space travel enabler is secure, according to Hadfield.
Page Navigation 1) "All of the big business, all of the delicate work – was riding on the Maple Leaf." - Page 12) Avoidance maneuvers - the art of ducking space debris. - Page 2
3) More than a fine-toothed comb. - Page 3
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