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OTTAWA – The head of the US space agency lauded Canada's expertise in artificial intelligence in Ottawa Tuesday, fuelling speculation that Canada will join its next bold venture to unlock the secrets of the moon.
Jim Bridenstine, the director of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, said he wants Canada's decades-long space partnership with the US to continue as it embarks on the creation of its new "Lunar Gateway" – the next-generation outpost planning to send orbit around the moon.
"In fact, Canada has very unique and exceptional capabilities when it comes to robotics and artificial intelligence," Bridenstine told an event Tuesday at the start of a two-day trip to the capital.
"The reason I'm here – the whole reason I'm here for the next two days – (is) we want international partners.
Bridenstine took part in a demonstration at Carleton University by Mission Control, a Canadian company working on robotic technology that can be used to test soil samples.
That event was a warm-up of sorts for a conference of the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada, where speculation is running that Canada's participation in the Lunar Gateway will be announced.
Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains, a voice booster of Canada's AI hubs in Ontario and Quebec, is also scheduled to speak.
The government wants to enhance Canada's International reputation and views on the cutting-edge sector as key to its plans to stimulate growth and create what it calls the jobs of the future.
In September, the Canadian Space Agency appeared to be laying the foundation for an expanded partnership with NASA when it was issued to position Canada to contribute to future space missions involving human and robotic exploration.
In his Tuesday speech, Bridenstine chronicled Canada's decades-long co-operation with the US that began in 1962 with the Alouette-1 satellite science and continued with its iconic invention of the Canadarm – the robotic arm on NASA's space shuttles – as well as contributing 14 astronauts.
"We can do more than we've been able to do on the surface of the moon because of what we can do tele-robotically," said Bridenstine. "And of course, no country on the planet is better than this kind of activity than Canada."
Bridenstine offered a bold vision of what could be accomplished with a "successful response module", which we can go back and forth to the surface of the moon, over and over again with robots, with rovers, with landers, and humans.
The return to the moon would be long-term project that would not end with an Apollo-style flag planting and a quick departure, he said.
"This time when we go, we're going to stay."
It was not until a few years ago that India and NASA found water sources on the moon, which has a positive impact on the environment. said Bridenstine.
"So the question begs: what else do we know about the moon?" he said. "Space has been transformed into a world of reality by all countries.
Canadian Space Agency President Sylvain Laporte did not suggest it was a smooth collaboration so far.
"As friends go, sometimes we've got some ups, and sometimes we've got some downs," Laporte told the gathering. "Aimed at the ups and downs of our relationship, we have a long way to go, and we continue to collaborate and move the yardsticks forward."
Mike Blanchfield, The Canadian Press
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