Remembering Canadian astronaut Marc Garneau (1949-2025)

Marc Garneau, born February 23, 1949 in Quebec City, Quebec, passed away today after a brief illness. He was the first Canadian in space when he launched on Challenger (STS-41-G) in October 1984. He went into space twice more, in May 1996 aboard Endeavour (STS-77), and finally in December 2000 aboard Endeavour (STS-97). 

He was appointed executive vice-president of the Canadian Space Agency in 2001, and then he was announced as president in November 2001. He resigned from the CSA in November 2005.

He served as a member of Parliament for Notre-Dame-de-Grace - Westmount from 2008-2023.  During that time, he served as Minister of Transport, and Minister of Foreign Affairs under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

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Day 9: Challenger (STS-41-G) crew lands 1984

STS-41-G crew 

Front Row (L-R): Jon McBride, Sally Ride, Kathryn Sullivan, David Leestma

Back Row (L-R): Paul Scully-Power, Robert Crippen, Marc Garneau

On October 13, 1984, the Challenger (STS-41-G) crew woke up to OU's fight song Boomer Sooner and Rocket Man by Elton John.  I haven't figured out the connection between OU and the mission.  Rocket Man seems appropriate though.

They prepared for re-entry by closing the payload bay doors and fired the Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) engines over Australia.  Due to the shuttle's 57-degree inclination, their re-entry took them over the eastern United States, which was one of many firsts experienced during the mission.

Challenger touched down at 12:25pm at Kennedy Space Center.  They spent 8 days, 5 hours and 23 minutes in space, traveling almost 3.3M miles and completing 133 orbits.  

It was the first shuttle to: 

• carry a crew of seven
• carry two women into space
• involve a woman in an EVA (Sullivan)
• carry a Canadian into space (Garneau)
• carry an Australian-born person into space (Scully-Power)
• carry an astronaut with a beard into space (Scully-Power)
• fly over the eastern US during re-entry

The crew consisted of Commander Robert Crippen, pilot Jon McBride, Kathryn Sullivan, Sally Ride, David Leestma, Paul Scully-Power, and Marc Garneau.

Commander Robert Crippen became the first American to complete two space missions in the same calendar year.

Footage of the mission appeared in The Dream is Alive, an IMAX documentary film about NASA's Space Shuttle program.  

Day 3: STS-41-G crew continue Earth-observing observations 1984

 

Shuttle Imaging Radar-B deployment

The crew woke up to John Denver’s Leaving on a Jet Plane on Day 3, October 7.  They lowered Challenger’s orbit to 140 miles, which was the optimal altitude for the Shuttle Imaging Radar-B (SIR-B) and other Earth-observing instruments. Garneau continued his CANEX investigations.  Leestma conducted several scheduled ORS fuel transfers.  Scully-Power continued his oceanography studies. 

Day 2: STS-41-G crew begin experiments 1984

Canadian astronaut Marc Garneau with the Sunphotometer

The second day of flight STS-41-G, the Challenger crew woke up to Irene Cara’s Flashdance…What a Feeling.  Starting with Apollo 15, NASA started playing music to wake up the flight crew.  Each song is chosen specifically by the astronauts’ families and typically has a special meaning to their family member or the crew.  Or it can be applicable to their daily activities.  I haven’t found which astronaut is connected to this song.

The crew lowered the Challenger’s orbit to an altitude of 151 miles, down from 218 miles the day before. Marc Garneau began the Canadian experiments (CANEX), sponsored by the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada.  His experiments included investigations into medical, atmospheric, climatic, materials, and robotic sciences.  One piece of equipment Garneau used was the Sunphotometer, a handheld instrument which measures solar radiation at several wavelengths.  The Canadian Atmospheric Environment Service used the readings to measure local atmospheric constituents and to monitor acidic haze.

Paul Scully-Power (Australian-American astronaut) began oceanographic observations, and successfully photographed spiral eddies in the world’s oceans.

David Leestma completed tests on the Orbital Refueling System remote-controlled hydrazine fuel transfer. The structure was designed to develop and demonstrate equipment and techniques for refueling satellites in orbit.

Endeavour (STS-77) launched 1996

STS-77 crew

Front row (L-R): Curtis Brown, John Casper

Back row (L-R): Daniel Bursch, Mario Runco, Marc Garneau, Andrew Thomas

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-77), launched May 19, 1996, carried a Coca-Cola fountain dispenser into space as part of opening the commercial space frontier.  Its crew consisted of Commander John Casper, Pilot Curtis Brown, Andrew Thomas, Daniel Bursch, Mario Runco, and Marc Garneau (CSA).

The Coca-Cola dispenser was developed for use on the Endeavour to see if carbonated beverages can be produced in microgravity, which causes bubble nucleation resulting in foam formation.

They returned to Earth May 29.

Happy birthday, Canadian astronaut Marc Garneau!

Marc Garneau, born February 23, 1949 in Quebec City, Canada, is the first Canadian to go into space.  He is a veteran of 3 space shuttle flights.

His first flight was aboard Challenger (STS-41-G) as payload specialist in October 1984.  He conducted a series of experiments sponsored by the Canadian government.

His second flight was aboard Endeavour (STS-77) in May 1996 to the space station Mir as mission specialist.  One of the experiments, the  Commercial Float Zone Facility was a collaboration of Canada, the US and Germany.

Garneau's third and final flight was aboard Endeavour (STS-97) as mission specialist to the International Space Station in December 2000.  He manipulated the Canadarm during the mission in support of the EVAs.

He became president of the Canadian Space Agency in November 2001.  He resigned his position to enter Canadian politics in 2006.



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Endeavour (STS-97) launched 2000

Seated (L-R): Michael Bloomfield, Marc Garneau, Brent Jett

Standing (L-R): Carlos Noriega, Joseph Tanner

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Endeavour launched November 30, 2000, carried the first set of solar arrays to the International Space Station.  Her crew was Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Michael Bloomfield, Mission Specialist Joseph Tanner, Mission Specialist Marc Garneau (Canadian Space Agency) and Mission Specialist Carlos Noriega (first Peruvian in space, but this wasn't his first flight). 

On Flight Day 3, Endeavour linked to the ISS.  Joseph Tanner and Carlos Noriega moved through Endeavour's docking tunnel and opened the hatch to the ISS docking port to leave supplies and computer hardware on the "doorstep" of the ISS.

The next day, the crew of Expedition 1, Commander Bill Shepherd, Pilot Yuri Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev, retrieved the items left for them.

Tanner and Noriega performed 3 EVAs to install the solar arrays on the ISS and installed a camera cable outside the Unity Module.

On Flight Day 8, Endeavour's crew met Expedition 1's crew in the ISS.  Up until now, they had kept one hatch closed between the shuttle and the station to maintain respective atmospheres.

Flight Day 9, the crews finished transferring supplies to the station and stuff to be brought back to Earth.  Endeavour landed December 11.




https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/archives/sts-97.html

First Canadian in space, eh! 1984

Bottom (L to R) Jon A. McBride, Pilot, Sally K. Ride, Kathryn D. Sullivan and David C. Leestma, Mission Specialists. Top (L-R) Paul D. Scully-Power (Australian), Payload Specialist; Robert L. Crippen, Commander, and Marc Garneau, Canadian Payload Specialist. 

When the Space Shuttle Challenger (STS-41-G) launched on October 5, 1984, its crew contained the first Canadian astronaut, Marc Garneau.  It also contained the first Australian-born astronaut, Paul Scully-Power, who was the first bearded astronaut!  This was the first crew to include two women, and the first American woman EVA.

This was Challenger's sixth flight and the thirteenth of the Space Shuttle program.  Robert Crippen commanded the mission, which lasted a little over 8 days.  Challenger landed October 13.