Happy Canada Day
Jul. 1st, 2006 03:57 pmAs an interesting coincidence, the latest space shuttle flight (STS-121) is scheduled for today and features a few Canadian connections:
- They are going more work with NRC's laser range scanner to examine "areas of interest" after some modifications to the fuel tank.
- The camera is mounted on an inspection boom, designed in Canada as an extension to the Canadarm.
- For the first time, Mission Control of all aspects of the mission dealing with the Canadarm are under the control of Canadian MCC personel.
- The CapCom (Capsule Communicator, the one who talks with the shuttle during the mission) is Canada's Julie Payette, currently Chief Astronaut for the Canadian Space Agency.
If the weather holds, this will be quite a birthday present for Canada
.
[Edit: flight delayed until July 2 due to adverse weather conditions]
- They are going more work with NRC's laser range scanner to examine "areas of interest" after some modifications to the fuel tank.
- The camera is mounted on an inspection boom, designed in Canada as an extension to the Canadarm.
- For the first time, Mission Control of all aspects of the mission dealing with the Canadarm are under the control of Canadian MCC personel.
- The CapCom (Capsule Communicator, the one who talks with the shuttle during the mission) is Canada's Julie Payette, currently Chief Astronaut for the Canadian Space Agency.
If the weather holds, this will be quite a birthday present for Canada
.
[Edit: flight delayed until July 2 due to adverse weather conditions]