Canada In Space
Canada has a rich history in space exploration. From 1839 when Sir Edward Sabine established the first magnetic observatory at the University of Toronto to study the northern lights; to producing the landing gear used on the Eagle for the first landing on the moon in 1969; to the development of the Canadarm which was used on the Space Shuttle orbiters to deploy, manoeuvre and capture payloads; and, in looking forward to a Canadian rover landing on the moon within the next five years.
Bjarni Tryggvason
Bjarni Tryggvason was born in 1945 in Reykjavik Iceland. He moved to Canada when he was 8 years old and grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia.
He worked as a meteorologist at the Atmospheric Environment Service in Toronto and later in a similar position at James Cook University in Townsville, Australia.
He was selected in 1983 to the Canadian Space Agency and became the first Icelandic astronaut. He served as a payload specialist in 1997 on a 12-day mission to study changes in the earth’s atmosphere.
Tryggvason retired from the Canadian Space Agency in 2008 and returned to teaching at the University of Western Ontario. He also taught at the International Test Pilots School in London, Ontario and continued to serve as a test pilot.
In February 2009, he piloted a replica of Alexander Graham Bell’s Silver Dart from the ice on Baddeck Bay, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. The flight commemorated the centennial of the first flight in Canada and the British Empire.