News Release
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ASPIN SAYS CANADA’S COMMITMENT TO INTERNATIONAL SPACE WILL HAVE A POSITIVE IMPACT ON INITIATIVES FOR YYB
Ottawa June 2, 2015 – Jay Aspin, MP for Nipissing-Timiskaming joined Minister of Industry, the Honourable James Moore today for important announcements regarding Canada’s space sector. The Minister announced Canada’s renewed participation in the International Space Station (ISS) which will secure space travel for Canadian astronauts Jeremy Hansen and David Saint-Jacques and several space exploration commitments. MP Jay Aspin joined the announcement as Chair of the Parliamentary Space Caucus.
“I am very pleased that our government continues to provide strong leadership and make critical investments in our space sector,” said MP Jay Aspin. “Our renewed commitment to the ISS programme as well as additional investments in the space sector sends a clear message that this sector is a priority for our government.”
Minister Moore also announced a $10.5 million investment in Canadian space robotics firm MDA to continue technical support for CanadaArm2, Dextre and the mobile base on the ISS, extending Canada’s collaboration with NASA in the Mars Science Laboratory mission (Mars Curiosity rover) by two years, and four new Canadian science experiments to be conducted aboard the ISS this fall. The experiments are led by Canadian universities and will test the effects of weightlessness on the human body stemming from space travel.
“Continued investment in our space sector addresses the need for additional capacity. Some of that capacity can be built right here in Nipissing-Timiskaming in the near future,” said MP Jay Aspin. “Today’s announcements are great news for Canada and great news for our region. Clearly, these are very exciting times for space exploration and I am very pleased that our region is positioning itself to be an important part of it.”
