Making scientific discoveries
Advancing knowledge and science
A great benefit of exploring space is new breakthroughs in science. Data collected by space probes, telescopes, rovers and more is continually challenging our assumptions. In the last decades, we have learned that the number of planets, stars and galaxies in the universe is much higher than we anticipated. Researchers have found out that gravitational waves hypothesized by Einstein more than 100 years ago are indeed real, giving us a new way to look at the universe. Scientists have even discovered ice on Mars and the Moon as well as liquid water on moons in our solar system!
Pushing our boundaries by exploring the unknown
As John F. Kennedy said about landing on the Moon:
"We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard."
Exploring space is hard – it is perhaps one of the hardest and most complex endeavours of humankind. It forces societies to push their boundaries, surmount challenges, and work together to reach new heights. Space agencies from around the world are looking towards the future of deep-space exploration, beyond the International Space Station (ISS). Canada has committed to participating in international space exploration efforts that aim to extend humanity's reach further into the solar system.
Canada sets its sights on the Moon
The Canadian Space Agency is working with national and international partners to plan the development and build Gateway, an outpost in the vicinity of the Moon that will serve as a stepping stone for deep-space exploration. Canada is contributing a robotic system, Canadarm3, to Gateway.
About one-fifth of the size of the ISS, Gateway will serve as a science laboratory, a testbed for new technologies, and a hub for operations and exploration missions to the lunar surface. The new outpost will enable astronauts to easily travel to the lunar surface to conduct cutting-edge scientific research and test new technologies.
The well-being of crews is essential to the success of longer-term missions to more distant destinations. Studies conducted on the Moon and the outpost will build a deeper understanding of possible health effects of cosmic radiation and solar storms on astronauts outside Earth's protective magnetic field.