Tons of space and science related events at the upcoming Science Rendezvous event at the Keele campus It’s Saturday, May 10th. Lots of info in today’s Y-File article.

York University will throw open the doors of its space science and engineering facilities to hundreds of future astronauts on Saturday, May 10. York is participating in Science Rendezvous, a new full day event that is free and open to the public. During Science Rendezvous, leading science and technology institutes, including York, will offer free tours, events, demonstrations and lectures. Participants can register for the day and pick up a program in the lobby of the Computer Science & Engineering Building. Registration opens at 12:30pm.

“York University’s event will be very unique,” says Elissa Strome, research officer for the Faculty of Science & Engineering. “We are opening the doors to our world-renowned space science and engineering facilites to showcase them to Canada’s future astronauts and space scientists.”

York-specific information here.

…for the Canadian Space Program, that is.

At least that’s the thrust of a recent article in the National Post.

Some background:

But even as Canada celebrates another milestone in its nearly 50-year history of involvement in space, some critics are wondering: Will it be the last?

The shuttle Endeavour will carry the Canadian-built Dextre module — the nickname given to the Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator, the “hand” for the massive Canadarm2 robotic arm — to the International Space tation, the last component in Canada’s contribution to the 16-nation project.

The arm, an 18-metre-long, remotely controlled and highly complex construction crane, was installed in 2001 while the Mobile Base System, the “shoulder” for the Canadarm, was brought up to the space station in 2002.

York Space Engineering prof. Brendan Quine is quoted:

Ben Quine, a professor at York University’s Earth and Space Engineering department, said the sudden departure of the former president was cause for concern. “That was somewhat alarming. He had only really been in the job for a few months and it came as a surprise when he left … It was not a good sign.”

Prof. Quine says Dextre’s arrival in orbit may well mark the beginning of a new era in Canada’s role in space exploration, but it is not yet clear what that role will be.

“Canadarm was a great Canadian success story,” he says. “But to some extent, we’ve lost our way in the space industry in this country … I think we’ve got to be really careful about our direction in the future. We need a viable space industry and a vibrant research and development sector.”

*snip*

“Governments don’t typically have much interest in a big space program in Canada,” he says. “But this is an export market that generates wealth in our economy … [and] it’s a high-tech industry.”

Prof. Quine says space and related industries worldwide are worth about $200-billion a year, and that Canada’s share of that business — about $2-billion a year — could dry up without a greater commitment from Ottawa to support it. “If we don’t support our industry, we risk losing our share of that market,” he says. “And it’s a market that’s going to get extremely competitive in the next few years with India and China moving into space.

“We really have to articulate more clearly to governments why it’s important for Canada to fund space exploration … We need to tell our political leaders about the huge benefits space can bring Canada.”

You tell ‘em, Ben!

York Engineering Prof Ben Quine made an appearance in yesterday’s Toronto Star in a article Mars: The next frontier? by Murray Whyte.

It’s a very interesting article, well worth reading the whole thing. Here are some excerpts of what Prof Quine has to say:

“Every time we go there, it’s to answer a question. And inevitably, every question brings forward 10 more,” said Alain Berinstain, the director of the planetary exploration program at the Canadian Space Agency. “That’s why we’re going to send humans to Mars: Because we can’t answer all these questions robotically.”

These are big ones. “Are we alone in the universe?” says Brendan Quine, the director of space engineering at York University, the country’s primary research facility into Martian exploration. “These are profound questions that have far-reaching consequences.”

Quine is associated with a unit called Northern Light, a joint venture between the school and Thoth Technologies, a Canadian aerospace firm. They’re exploring privately funded space exploration (they hope to launch their own, private Martian probe in 2009, for a fraction of the cost of NASA’s $350 million Phoenix mission).

*snip*

A thick band of hydrogen around the equator indicates water in some form. “We think there are very large reserves of water on Mars, actually,” Quine says.

“There are clear coastlines – multiple coastlines, actually. You can’t say they are until we test them, but they appear to be coastlines. In fact, we think that if we melted all the waters on Mars, we would flood the ocean basins to a depth of 500 metres. Then you’ve got a planet a lot like Earth.”