I’m Craig Baird, and this is Canadian History Ehx!Īlthough Canada may not be known as a space pioneer like the US and Russia but it has a long and storied history… one that is too long for me to cover in a single episode… so today I’m going to focus on key chapters of the story…our role in the moon landing, our first satellite and you guess it… the Canadarm”. That amazing moment passed mostly unnoticed North of the 49 and it’s just a small part of the story that is…. The man, a new astronaut named Chris Hadfield, was operating a device called the Canadarm and became the first Canadian to operate the famous tool in space. A device that would go on to be featured on currency, be displayed at the Smithsonian and, perhaps in the biggest honour of the 21 st century, have a Google Doodle created in its likeness. No, for him, his attention was glued to the operation of a device that had become a Canadian icon. 30, the people of Quebec had narrowly defeated a referendum for independence launched by the ruling Partis Quebecois.įor the man at the controls orbiting the earth, his focus was not on Quebec independence, nor the recent break-in 24 Sussex Drive in Ottawa, nor the fact his favourite hockey team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, were struggling to stay above. While on the white blanketed surface of his homeland, the country had just gone through one of its most trying moments.ĭays before, on Oct. Given their many discoveries and daring firsts, the Pioneer missions were true trailblazers that fulfilled their namesake.In November 1995, high above Earth’s atmosphere, 358 kilometres to be exact, a young mustachioed Canadian was at the controls of a device installing a 4,100-kilogram Russian-built docking module. The Pioneer missions are credited with laying the foundation for future NASA missions, including Voyager 1, Voyager 2, Cassini and more. The probe transmitted its final signal to Earth in 1995 Pioneer 10’s last signal was detected in 2003. Though it launched second, Pioneer 11’s mission ended first. “The recovery of Doppler and telemetry data and the entire effort in thermal analysis would not have happened without the Planetary Society." The legacy of Pioneer 10 and 11 "Without the rescue of the Doppler data, we would have been blind, never able to claim the quantitative data we need to solve the anomaly,” said Slava Turyshev. Researchers ultimately concluded that the Pioneer Anomaly was the result of anisotropic thermal radiation - essentially, heat radiating from the spacecraft unevenly in many directions was causing them to slow down. The Planetary Society successfully raised enough money from its members to support the research that eventually solved the Pioneer Anomaly. No one knew why in fact, some chalked it up to a gap in our understanding of physics.Īfter NASA declined to fund research that could shed light on the so-called “ Pioneer Anomaly,” Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientist John Anderson and his colleague, physicist Slava Turyshev, contacted The Planetary Society for help. When the Pioneer missions had reached the outer solar system, scientists noticed the spacecraft were falling behind their projected trajectories by about 5,000 kilometers (3,000 miles) each year. In addition to discovering Saturn’s F ring, Pioneer 11 spotted two new moons.Īfter its rendezvous with Saturn, Pioneer 11 sped off toward the center of the Milky Way - a one-way course it remains on to this day. On September 1, 1979, Pioneer 11 came within 21,000 kilometers (13,000 miles) of Saturn - the first time a spacecraft had approached the planet this close. As a result, Pioneer 11 beamed back the first images of Jupiter’s polar regions, as well as stunning photos of the Jovian moons. Pioneer 11 needed a gravity assist from Jupiter in order to reach Saturn, which allowed for it to get closer to Jupiter than any spacecraft ever before. Pioneer 11 flew through the asteroid belt in 1974, just a few years after its counterpart. After completing its primary mission, Pioneer headed in the direction of the star Aldebaran, which it’s expected to reach in roughly 2 million years. It took the first up-close, detailed pictures of the gas giant and made observations about its radiation belts, magnetic field and more. Pioneer 10 reached Jupiter on December 3, 1973. The probe passed through the region, becoming the first spacecraft to ever do so. Then, on July 15, 1972, the spacecraft entered the asteroid belt - a swath of rocky material that spans about 280 million kilometers (175 million miles) in width. As it zipped toward Jupiter, it became the first spacecraft to ever venture beyond Mars. Pioneer 10 began breaking records shortly after launch.
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