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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
As cool as unmanned aircraft are, the idea of small drones taking freely to our skies can make many shift in their seats. But the integration of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) into our airspace doesn’t necessarily need to be a scary thing. With enough regulations in place to maximize safety and minimize fear, there’s much to gain from these unmanned fliers. Read more.
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.
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.
