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Canada’s Giant Leap: The Canadarm2 Mission

Season 5/Episode 4 – English Transcript

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The addition of Canadarm2 to the International Space Station in April 2001 cemented Canada’s role as a partner on the International Space Station. Built in Brampton, Ontario, launched aboard the Endeavour Space Shuttle, and installed by astronaut Chris Hadfield, the Canadarm2 remains an essential instrument of the space station today.

In this episode, of Canadian Time Machine, astronaut Scott Parazynski recounts his seven-hour spacewalk alongside Chris Hadfield, where they installed Canadarm2 on the International Space Station. Next, Timothy Braithwaite, a Canadian Space Agency flight controller and robotics engineer, describes how mission control’s intense culture of technical excellence supported the astronauts 400 kilometres overhead.

Listen to the episode:

Scott Parazynski [00:00:02] Being outside on a spacewalk is, I think, the most alive I’ve ever felt in my entire life. It’s pretty outrageous, and you just have a thin visor between you and the enormity of the universe. Everywhere you look, it’s this otherworldly perspective. Traveling at 17,500 miles an hour over the Earth’s surface and seeing a sunrise or sunset every 45 minutes, it’s an out-of-body experience for sure.

Angela Misri [00:00:32] That’s Dr. Scott Parazynski, a former NASA astronaut.

Scott Parazynski [00:00:36] And proud member of the STS-100 crew that helped install the International Space Station’s Canadarm2 with my good friend, Chris Hadfield.

Angela Misri [00:00:48] Welcome to Canadian Time Machine, a podcast exploring milestones in Canada’s history. I’m your host, Angela Misri, and this episode follows astronauts Scott Parazynski and Chris Hadfield on their mission to install the Canadarm2 on the International Space Station.

Mission Control [00:01:10] We have booster ignition and liftoff of the Space Shuttle Endeavour extending the reach of the space station while extending partnerships above the Earth.

Angela Misri [00:01:20] Twenty-five years ago, the International Space Station was still under construction. To keep growing, it needed the Canadarm2. Engineers at the Canadian Space Agency in Brampton, Ontario had labored for years on the Canadarm2, and if everything went as planned, its installation would make Canada an official partner on the ISS.

Scott Parazynski [00:01:42] The primary goal of STS-100 was to deliver Canadarm2, what we called the big arm, to the International Space Station. So this was Canada’s primary contribution to the ISS program, was the workhorse for spacewalkers to stand on the tip of it, to grapple arriving satellites, and to relocate modules. So, really an essential part of the life of the International Space Station.

Angela Misri [00:02:10] Scott is from Arkansas and Chris, Ontario.

Scott Parazynski [00:02:14] I would always tease Chris, instead of putting on an EVA helmet, I would say, Chris, it’s time to put on our EVA toques. So I learned some jargon for my association with Chris.

Angela Misri [00:02:26] Finally aboard the ISS in April 2001, the pair had just spent four years training in extravehicular activity, also known as EVA, or spacewalking.

Scott Parazynski [00:02:37] Oh, you don’t downplay spacewalking, no, it’s the coolest thing ever. And I remember vividly, talking about great lines beginning spacewalks. And one of our favorites was one of our friends, Bill McArthur. His first spacewalk, he floated out and it was just a spontaneous thing, but he said, “Oh, sweet Jesus!” And so that was a pretty classic line, but we had watched the Gladiator in crew quarters right before launch. And there’s a line in there, I think Russell Crowe is the actor, but strength and honor. So I think that’s what Chris said as he floated out. And I said, “Strength and Honor, Chris,” back at him. And that’s how we started our spacewalk.

Angela Misri [00:03:21] As Chris floated through the airlock that morning, he became the first Canadian to perform a spacewalk, but he didn’t have much time to dwell on it.

Scott Parazynski [00:03:29] Chris was assigned to remove something from the side of Node One, so he was very busy. And so I had, as I recall, about a half an orbit just to savor being in space. And I remember seeing our orbital complex fly through the southern lights. So this aurora, it’s a curtain of very pale light going up several hundred miles. We kind of slammed right through it and it was the most beautiful light show I’ve ever seen in my life. And that was really an incredible gift. But most of the time when you’re really hard at work, you’ve got your blinders on and you’re not really thinking about the scenery.

Angela Misri [00:04:13] Scott and Chris’s mission was painstakingly choreographed, months in advance, but they still had to be ready for anything.

Scott Parazynski [00:04:21] The only thing expected in EVA is the unexpected. Things are going to go sideways. Things will break. You’re working in this extraordinary environment. Huge temperature extremes, the vacuum of space, lubricants and other systems don’t work as they do on Earth.........

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