It seems the Moon and Mars are waiting.
These two celestial bodies were hot topics last month when over 200
individuals from government, industry, and academia gathered in
Montreal at the John H. Chapman Space Centre, for the 5th Canadian
Space Exploration Workshop (CSEW5). The fifth in a series, the CSEWs
are an opportunity for the Canadian space sciences and exploration
community - along with a few international guests - to meet and discuss
recent accomplishments and activities and, more importantly, set
priorities for the future. Our lunar neighbor and the Martian surface
are definitely on the high priority list.
The Moon and Mars have been targets of scientific interest for decades,
but both have recently gained a renewed prominence given that the
Americans and Europeans are looking to land people on their surfaces
later in the first half of this century.
For several years now, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has been trying
to acquire the funds to mount a Canadian lead mission to Mars, but full
funding simply has not been forth coming.
From presentations and comments made at this workshop it's clear that
Canadian scientists and industry partners are keen to head into space,
and confident they have the requisite skills to get the job done.
The cost estimate of such a mission is in the vicinity of 250 million
dollars. Thoth Technology, an Ontario Company specializing in space
systems and information services, is clearly tired of waiting and has
started to gather up private funding to support a mission of their own
to Mars. What they plan to do is remarkable and gets the heart pounding.
Thoth's President and CEO, Dr. Caroline Roberts, along with Space Sciences Director Dr.
Brendan Quine and about 50 other scientists from across the country are
gearing up to send a rover to the Martian surface, and to do it for
less than half the cost of a CSA mission. And this is no fanciful
dream; testing of their landing system has begun and the selection of a
launch vehicle - a Russian rocket - is complete. Their rover could
depart Earth as early as 2007. Let us wish them good luck.
Although a fully government-funded Mars mission may not yet be on the
horizon for Canada, there was still good news to be heard in Montreal.
Three years from now a joint project between CSA and the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will culminate with the
first Canadian built instrument to reach the Martian surface.
The Phoenix Mars Lander will alight near the Martian North Pole and a
Canadian built weather station will come alive to study the atmosphere.
In addition, it was encouraging to hear that CSA is funding a Canadian
company to look into developing mining equipment for the Moon.
This seems to indicate an exciting switch; no longer is the Moon
strictly an area of scientific interest, but now becoming viewed as a
resource and a destination to be exploited.
Mixed in with the scientific and exploration talks were voices calling
for the assembled group to work harder to sell space to the public.
Dr. John Spray, professor of Geology at the University of New Brunswick
and Director of the Planetary and Space Science Centre, spoke
eloquently about space and stressed that the key to funding is public
relations. His point, and that of others, was simple, 'How do we
convince our politicians and the Canadian public that the exploration
of space is worth the money?' A tough question to answer, but Dr. Spray
suggested a couple of starting points: where possible emphasize the
terrestrial applications of extraterrestrial pursuits (e.g., developing
new mining and remote sensing technologies on Earth that can then be
used on other planetary bodies). Second, scientists and researchers
must use television, radio, newspapers, and other media sources to let
the public know what they are doing and why.
If you are reading these words, well, I feel we're helping out. The Moon and Mars are waiting.
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