Friday, May 31st, 2013
by Theras Wood Not only is Wade Larson a co-founder of UrtheCast, he’s a veteran business strategist in the Earth Observation market. During this year’s TEDx event in Waterloo, Wade explained how he came up with the idea of sending an HD video camera to the International Space Station — and how UrtheCast intends toRead more…
Thursday, May 30th, 2013
by Theras Wood
Besides its awe-striking size, thousands of completed science experiments, and a list of impressive inhabitants, the International Space Station (ISS) is a project unlike any other in terms of sheer scale — a beacon for what can be accomplished when the world cooperates in space exploration.
Are we gushing yet?
As the “most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken,” the ISS is even more ‘international’ in nature than the 5-space-agency cooperative might suggest, involving 15 of the world’s most wealthy nations. (Space exploration, of course, comes with a hefty price tag.) Read more.
Monday, May 27th, 2013
by AJ Plunkett
When you think about it, achievements in space have often involved crowdsourcing.
More than 50 years ago, the Soviets took the best minds they could gather in rocketry, physics, engineering, and a host of other specialties, and told them to put their heads together get a human into space.
At the same time, NASA put the best minds from the United States and its allies to work and told them to beat the Soviets in the space race.
We all know how that turned out.
Now we have a new type of space competition: the International Space Apps Challenge.
Friday, May 17th, 2013
by Theras Wood
From the moment a child first recognizes his or her reflection, their sense of self awareness is forever changed. So too was humanity’s when we got our first look at the planet from space. It was a life-changing event on a species-wide scale — our microcosm suddenly became extremely macro and we were able to finally see ourselves against the grander backdrop of the universe.
[READ: The Overview Effect: The Staggering Awe Of Seeing Earth From Space.]
Last Friday May 10th marked the anniversary of the first colour pictures taken of Earth from space. Captured by the Apollo 10 crew, it marked the first time we were able to bring back images of our blue marble, in full colour.
Thursday, May 9th, 2013
by AJ Plunkett
As the first Canadian commander of the International Space Station, Chris Hadfield had many important duties aboard the giant Earth-orbiting laboratory, not the least of which was overseeing the safety of the crew.
But as Hadfield’s time aboard the ISS comes to a close, a review of his tenure reveals what has been obvious to everyone following his adventures on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook, and to every student who participated in a video chat or amateur radio conversation with him:
Chris Hadfield has made the unreachable corners of outer space personal, fun, and incredibly interesting.
Thursday, May 2nd, 2013
by Theras Wood
Space and the arts are no strangers, having been pretty friendly over the years.
It’s not, for instance, uncommon for astronauts to know how to wield a guitar, with the most recent renaissance man aboard the ISS being Canada’s Earth-space ambassador, Commander Chris Hadfield.
Now, after a series of (gone-viral) live chats with celebs and students, and clever info segments about life’s minutiae aboard the Station, Hadfield will be holding his last live broadcast with Earth on Monday, May 6.
Tuesday, April 30th, 2013
by AJ Plunkett
For almost a year now, California’s SpaceX has seemed a little like the rabbit of the U.S. commercial space race – fast, sleek, glamorous, and running circles around its closest competitor, Orbital Sciences Corp. of Virginia.
Saturday, April 27th, 2013
by AJ Plunkett
Lassoing an asteroid and dragging it back toward the moon — at first blush, the idea sounds a little insane. For a number of reasons.
On the heels of the SpaceX Dragon becoming the first commercially launched cargo ship from the U.S., and the amazing success of the Mars Curiosity rover landing, comes the next great space adventure: lassoing an asteroid.
Tuesday, April 16th, 2013
by AJ Plunkett
Calling all space geeks: The hackathon is on.
Bring your dreams, your drink (the caffeinated kind, of course) and your skills to any one of 75 locations in 41 countries around this world – or the whole Blue Marble if you choose to join virtually – to the second annual International Space Apps Challenge, April 20-21.
For 48 hours, some of the most active minds on the planet will come together to crowdsource fun and maybe even life-sustaining solutions to some of the most complex space exploration problems: Read more.
Saturday, April 6th, 2013
by AJ Plunkett
The Russian Space Agency, Roscosmos, has finally inked a much discussed agreement with the European Space Agency, making good on Russia’s 2012 promise to strengthen its industrial base and take over more of the global space market.
Announced in mid March, the agreement includes Canada on its governing council and picks up where NASA left off on the ExoMars mission.