Sudbury's mining technology has use in space: Astronaut

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield was in Greater Sudbury April 28, and had a first-hand look at space mining technology being developed by Northern Centre for Advanced Technology Inc. (NORCAT).

Hadfied, the first Canadian to walk in space and the only Canadian to set foot on Russian space station Mir, examined robots NORCAT is developing in Sudbury. These robots would allow future astronauts to mine resources on the Moon, Mars or asteroids.

“It's great to have a chance to update some of the technologies that have been developed over the last several years,” Hadfield said. “NORCAT has done some real cutting-edge work in not only in supporting the mining industry, but in some of the future mining industry, maybe as far flung as Mars."

NORCAT researchers recently returned from a trip to Hawaii, where the lunar mining robots were tested. The testing took place in Hawaii because the volcanic rock best resembled space rock.

Although Hadfield said it will be years before mining on Moon is feasible, he noted that now is the time to develop the new technologies.

“It sounds sort of crazy, but there are enormous mineral resources beyond our own atmosphere," he explained.

"Eventually we will mine them, we just haven't developed the technology for it. Eventually we will develop the technology and why shouldn't it be a country like Canada, or an organization like NORCAT (that develops it)?”

One of the more famous of Canadian robotics used in outer space is the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System, also known as the Canadarm. It was developed by a B.C. based research company.

NORCAT has been developing space mining equipment since 1999.

 

Hadfield, a colonel with the Canadian Space Agency, will speak at Science North to high school students about the use of robotics in space, on April 29.

Andrew Low is a reporter with Northern Ontario Business, a business newspaper published by Laurentian Publishing, parent company of Northern Life.