Acta Astronautica 63 (2008) 35–37www.elsevier.com/locate/actaastro

Microgravity Research in the Canadian Space AgencyNicole Buckley∗, Perry Johnson-GreenCanadian Space Agency, St-Hubert, Que., Canada J3Y 8Y9

Available online 14 April 2008

Abstract

The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has a strong history of supporting microgravity research in space. Canada is an InternationalSpace Station (ISS) Partner and has played a key role in construction of the ISS, through provision and operation of the ISSrobotic arm. The CSA also plans to contribute to microgravity research onboard ISS, through the support of Canadian scientistsand the development of microgravity payloads. The CSA is particularly committed to manifesting payloads on ISS that allowscientists to address fundamental questions and problems that also have important application to human society. With regard tothe development of facilities for microgravity research, the CSA is currently identifying and assessing gaps in the capabilities ofextant, manifested, and planned facilities of the other ISS partners. In order to avoid duplication of effort, CSA development offacilities for ISS will only occur if significant gaps in capability are identified that are linked to important microgravity researchendeavors. The CSA is also developing a program of ISS utilization that includes regular solicitation of the best scientificproposals from the Canadian microgravity research community, with focus on the fields of material science, fluid dynamics,combustion, and biotechnology. Payload development and manifesting will then allow Canadian scientists to regularly utilizethe ISS. The Canadian microgravity research community is also supported by regular announcements of opportunity that giveCanadian scientists the opportunity to test new ideas and concepts for microgravity research, for example by using microgravityanalog systems.Crown Copyright © 2008 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

Canada has a rich history of physical science experi-mentation in the reduced gravity environment—for ex-ample, the material science experiment QUELD, whichflew on STS-42 in 1992. In 1994, the Physical ScienceProgram was established, and this quickly led to anotherseries of flight experiments on the Space Shuttle, in-cluding the Commercial Float Zone Furnace (1996), andthe Nanocrystal Getaway Special (1996). Between 1996and 1998, QUELD II operated on the Russian Space

∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 450 926 4772;fax: +1 450 926 4766.

E-mail addresses: nicole.buckley@space.gc.ca (N. Buckley),perry.johnson-green@space.gc.ca (P. Johnson-Green).

0094-5765/$ - see front matter Crown Copyright © 2008 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2007.12.071

Station MIR. Currently, the Physical Sciences programssupports research in the reduced gravity environmentrelated to fluid science, materials science, combustionscience, and biotechnology. Most of the biotechnologyresearch that has been supported through the CSA phys-ical science program has been related to protein crys-tallization or solute encapsulation.

The period between 2007 and 2010 will be excitingfor the worldwide space physical sciences commu-nity, because of planned expansion and outfitting ofthe International Space Station (ISS). The CanadianSpace Agency (CSA), through provision and operationof the CANADARM2 on ISS, has rights to crewtimefor utilization of Canadian payloads, and has rightsto purchase up-mass and down-mass to and fromISS. The CANADARM2 has been utilized extensively

36 N. Buckley, P. Johnson-Green / Acta Astronautica 63 (2008) 35–37

Table 1Research funding bodies for space physical science in Canada

Funding body Disciplines supported Research supported

NSERC Analytical–Physical Chemistry Fundamental, Applied,(Program Condensed Matter Physics CollaborativeGuide for Environmental Earth SciencesProfessors) General Physics

Inorganic–organic ChemistrySolid Earth SciencesSpace and AstronomySubatomic Physics

Canadian Research “The attempt to discover Research InfrastructureFoundation new facts, knowledge, andfor Innovation information; to develop new(Policy and interpretations of facts, knowledge,Program or information; or to discover newGuide) means of applying existing

knowledge in all disciplines”

Canadian Fluid Science Concept and FeasibilitySpace Agency Combustion Science Mission concepts

Material Science Flight ExperimentsBiotechnology

throughout construction of ISS, and will have a cru-cial role in the remaining lifetime of ISS. The CSAplans to use its ISS payload allocation in a three-pronged approach: (a) experimentation for the spacelife and physical science communities, (b) technolog-ical demonstrations, and (c) educational projects. Inthe past 2 years, the Life and Physical Sciences groupat the CSA has focused on the development of an in-frastructure that will allow the life and physical spacescience communities to develop a strong core of highlyqualified scientific personnel distributed throughoutCanada, with the required experience and expertise toexecute high quality physical science research in space.Space physical science research, though often aimed atthe investigation of questions that are fundamental toour understanding of physical processes, has frequentand important applications to human society. The CSALPS group ultimately aims at implementing programsto facilitate and stimulate this transfer of knowledgefrom space physical science researchers to industry,clinics, or to advance stewardship of human and naturalenvironments.

The Canadian science community faces particularchallenges related to its geography. The Canadian popu-lation is largely restricted to a sparsely populated narrowband stretching more than 7000 km from the Atlanticto the Pacific oceans. This makes it difficult to main-tain and nurture the close collaborations that are often

required for space research. Another challenge is re-lated to the politics of research funding. The main fund-ing body for physical science research is the NaturalSciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada(NSERC). This body funds scientific research throughthe provision of Discovery Grants and a range of othergrants and fellowships. However, space physical sci-ence research is not funded by NSERC, even thoughastronomy and other space-related scientific disciplinesreceive NSERC funding (Table 1). For this reason, theCSA plays a crucial role in the development and stimu-lation of the Canadian space physical science researchcommunity.

Consequently, the CSA is the sole source of Cana-dian funding for the Canadian space physical sciencecommunity. The Life and Physical Sciences group atthe CSA, besides directly funding researchers, also pro-vides experiment hardware for space physical sciencesresearchers. The planning of hardware design and buildsis predicated on the philosophy that Canadian hardwareshould not duplicate but rather complement hardwarethat has already been installed on ISS by internationalpartner agencies, or that is in a mature stage of develop-ment by a partner agency. Therefore, planned hardwarebuilds for ISS or other platforms by CSA will focusprimarily on experiment-specific hardware, unless it isapparent that a major gap exists in extant or plannedfacilities (on ISS, for example).

N. Buckley, P. Johnson-Green / Acta Astronautica 63 (2008) 35–37 37

2. Program development

A multi-dimensional program has been formulatedthat will allow researchers and industry to work collabo-ratively with the CSA to fulfill CSA objectives (Fig. 1).The foundation of this program is three types of com-petitive Announcements of Opportunity (AO):

(a) Concept and Feasibility, which allows researchersto develop and test new hypotheses and approachesto microgravity research. These studies are gearedultimately to flight experiments, and funding fromthe CSA allows scientists to validate new ideas andapproaches to space physical sciences research.Analogue systems (e.g. electromagnetic levitation),as well as parabolic flight experiments, are frequentcomponents of studies funded through this typeof AO.

(b) Mission Concept, which allows researchers, throughcollaboration with hardware developers, to developideas for new missions (payloads or facilities) to a‘pre-build’ level of maturity, with regard to scien-tific objectives, scientific requirements, and techni-cal readiness.

(c) Flight Experiment, which provides funds to re-searchers to support flight-related activities. In

Concept and Feasibility

Studies

Mission Concept Studies

HardwareDevelopersResearchers

FlightExperiment

Fig. 1. Flow of funds from CSA Announcement of Opportunities toresearchers and hardware developers. The dotted line indicates thatfunds can also flow from CSA to hardware developers through aseparate process (e.g. Request For Proposals).

Mission Concept Studies

FlightExperiment

Researchers

Concept and Feasibility

Studies

HardwareDevelopers

Fig. 2. The flow of information between products from Announce-ment of Opportunities (bold arrows) and the flow of informationamong these products and the key groups (researchers and hardwaredevelopers).

some AOs, funding for hardware developers is sup-plied through a common proposal with science sup-port; in other AOs, hardware development is fundedthrough separate CSA processes, such as Requestsfor Proposals (RFPs).

There is also a flow of information and knowledgethrough these AOs (Fig. 2). Concept and Feasibilitystudies provide crucial support and justification forexpensive flight experiments and are also one of thesources for ideas for mission concepts. Mission con-cepts provide the technical and scientific rationale formore ambitious projects. For each AO, products ofsuccessful proposals (new ideas, new data) ultimatelyflow back to researchers and hardware developers, aswell as to the CSA.

In parallel with this AO driven process, the LPSgroup also engages in multilateral discussions and ne-gotiations related to shared or coordinated use of facil-ities and hardware on space platforms. CSA-supportedworkshops also provide fora for discussion of specificaspects of space physical sciences research and are anavenue for CSA to better understand: (a) hardware re-quirements of space physical science researchers and(b) technical constraints that may hinder fulfillment ofscientific requirements.

Thus, CSA physical science program development,as currently planned, will proceed through a processthat is primarily driven by the Canadian space physicalscience community.