Subject: A Canadian politician that plays Rock Guitar, and loves astronomy
Hello Friend,
Fortunately, there are a few good politicians still around, though if you watched the news these
days one might wonder.
MP Tony Clement (MP for Parry Sound, Muskoka, Ont) is one such individual.
He is also President of the treasury board of Canada.
A tough job, if there ever was one.
And get this: He's also an amateur astronomer! Plus, he likes to play rock guitar.
What a combo.
And I can certainly relate to that, (I've got a Fender USA Stratocaster and a Fender twin reverb amp).
and no plans in changing my career anytime soon.
This past week though, MP Clement announced some remarkable news pertaining to Canada's investment
in the Space program, via the Canadian Space Agency and NASA.
The new mission, named Osiris-Rex, will send a craft to an asteroid, named Bennu
and bring back samples.
OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter (OLA) is Canada's contribution to this mission.
Some leaders in Canadian technology are involved, in the manufacturing of some of the components,
which will then be shipped to NASA for final testing and installation.
MDA and Optech, who developed the LIDAR (Light detection and ranging) instruments that will
essentially do a 3d image scan of asteroid Bennu.
The principle investigator for the Canadian science team, will be none other than Prof. Alan Hildebrand
of the University of Calgary, amongst others.
This mission will likely take place in the 2020's.
Clear Skies,
Ray Khan
PS Asteroid Bennu is a direct descendant of the building blocks, that created our solar system.
The odds of it hitting the earth, are about 1 in 2700, so don't quite run off to your bookie just yet ;-)