A satellite designed by local scientists is set to launch into space in an upcoming SpaceX mission.
The Port Elgin based Nuclear Innovation Institute’s (NII) Chief Innovation Officer Dr. Eric Johnston and Bruce Power’s Dr. Andrei Hanu teamed up with McMaster University Professor Dr. Soo-Hyun Byun, to build a device meant to detect radiation in space.
A release from the NII says, “As countries prepare to expand humanity’s presence to new locations in the solar system, astronauts will need to overcome the risks associated with prolonged exposure to space radiation.” The scientists will be extracting information from the satellite to see what kind of protections would be needed for humans to be on the moon or Mars for a period of time.
With funding from Bruce Power through the Environment@NII program and supported by NII, Johnston and Hanu worked with the McMaster team to develop the NEUtron DOSimetry & Exploration-or NEUDOSE (pronounced “new dose”) satellite.
The satellite is about the size of a loaf of bread. Inside it is the actual measuring instrument, which behaves like regular human fat tissue would, absorbing space radiation and relaying those measurements to us on Earth.
The project has been years in the making, and on March 14th, if the launch goes ahead, the team will see their work launch on a SpaceX rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The satellite will travel to the International Space Station, where astronauts will eventually release it into orbit around Earth.
The NII says the last time a human has ventured beyond low-Earth orbit was December 1972.
Dr. Hanu explains in a statement, “From a human health perspective, exposure to space radiation is one of the top ten challenges we must contend with if humans are travelling beyond low-Earth orbit.”
The NII says radiation outside of Earth’s protective atmosphere and magnetosphere is more intense and contains particles of significantly higher energy than what people receive each day on this planet. For a mission to Mars, for example, it would take six to nine months to get there, then astronauts would wait until Mars and Earth’s orbits are aligned, so they would stay on the planet for about a year. It would take another six to nine months to get back. That means two to three years in space.
According to the NII, each year on Earth, the average person receives radiation equal to about 300 dental x-rays, from sources like solar winds and cosmic rays, air travel and health procedures, as well as natural radiation from the planet itself.
In space, those two to three years could mean a radiation dose of two to three sieverts-that’s 200,000 to 300,000 times higher than a dental x-ray. Or, according to the American College of Radiology, two to three times as high as a person should receive in their entire lives.
One sievert increases a person’s likelihood of fatal cancer by 5 per cent.
The NII says, in Canada, the dose limit to the public as a result of nuclear plant operations is one millisievert (1/1000 of a sievert) in one calendar year. Regular reporting and monitoring by Canada’s nuclear regulator demonstrate the average annual effective doses to the public range from 0.001 to 0.002 millisieverts per year and between 0.5 to 0.7 millisieverts for nuclear plant workers.
The NII explains, what separates the NEUDOSE instrument from other detectors is its capability to measure both the radiation dose and the type of the radiation that caused it, which is important when looking at the long-term risks of ionizing radiation.
“By understanding the risks through projects like NEUDOSE,” said Dr. Hanu. “We can design shielding that is more effective and figure out how to get the most out of the heavy radiation shielding in a spacecraft.”
Dr. Johnston agrees: “Once the satellite begins reporting data in the coming months, we hope to make some major scientific findings that will help us develop better radiation instruments that enhance an astronaut’s situational awareness and the type of radiation they are exposed to.”
“With a diverse team of McMaster students and professors, industry experts and the Canadian Space Agency, this innovation project is an example of years-long collaboration to create a unique instrument,” said Dr. Johnston. “We are very grateful for the ongoing support of Bruce Power and NII’s other Founding Members.”
Senior Director at Bruce Power Danielle Lacroix says in a statement, “We’re excited to support this important research that will have impacts far beyond our traditional borders and into the realm of space which is truly inspiring,” said Danielle Lacroix, Senior Director at Bruce Power. “The fact this project aims to enhance the safety of astronauts aligns closely with our values, and along with our founding partners at NII, we will be watching the March 14 launch closely as we help increase our collective understanding in this fascinating area of science.”
NII President and CEO Bruce Wallace and NII Chief Innovation Officer Dr. Eric Johnston were on the Open Line Show on AM 560 CFOS Tuesday, March 7th. You can listen to them below:
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
