BY RICK PUSIAK
Anyone familiar with the Star Trek series will be familiar with the phrase Â? Â?space, the final frontier.Â?
It is interesting to note that space may be the next frontier for the City of Greater Sudbury.
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Northern Life was recently granted access to extremely top secret areas at Cambrian College that house NORCAT, the Northern Centre for Advanced Technology.
While technically separate from the institution the organization works with the college to promote high-tech development and introduce college students into the realm of higher learning.
This is where the space part comes in.
Unfortunately, this reporter has been ordered not to report on a great deal of what he saw during his tour.
This newspaper and reporter signed a secrecy agreement to protect copyright agreements and other corporate matters.
What we can report on is that within the next decade a NORCAT-designed drill will likely land on Mars and bear a sticker with the name Sudbury on the side of it.
Some will ask what is the importance of a drill on Mars.
NORCAT executive director Darryl Lake explained there is a great need to know if there is water in space. Where there is water the obvious conclusion is there life.
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Â?Water can also be used as a fuel, in fuel cells,Â? said Lake. Â?Units that go up, missions that go up, can probably refill with water and go down. Thirdly, where did life originate, was there any life form on Mars and is the subsurface terrain hostile to it or supportive of it? ThatÂ?s why weÂ?re drilling.Â?
There are some people who believe life on Earth perhaps originated on Mars and speculation is an asteroid or some other object or article from that planet loaded with microplasm hit this planet eons ago resulting in the evolution of various species.
Lake wouldnÂ?t offer a take on that.
Â?I would rather see it scientifically proven one way or another before I make a comment,Â? said the chief executive officer. Â?Anything is possible.Â?
After this initial interview, a small group of us were escorted into an area where this reporter sometimes had to cover his eyes.
Technician Dale Boucher, manager of the prototype development group at NORCAT, showed off the Mars drill.
Actually there are two drills. A larger one that was initially produced and a smaller approximately two-foot version created following recent technological upgrades.
Space exploration workshops hosted by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) have determined sub-surface access of Mars is a big priority for technology, development and science, said Boucher.
Â?We are working on developing technologies to do that,Â? said Boucher. Â?To drill down below the surface and get access to samples. We believe that we are world leaders in that technology development.Â?
This means a lot to the Sudbury area. The success of space exploration technology, be it robotic or human ultimately, relies on mining technology, said Boucher.
Sudbury, is already a leader in the mining area so it only makes sense to lever some of that capability and put Canada into a global leadership position as far as space mining goes.
Boucher wouldnÂ?t hazard a guess as to when a Mars drill with a Â?made in Sudbury stickerÂ? will hit the red planet.
Boucher explained there are about nine steps before putting a drill or any other payload on the top of a booster rocket. The technology developed at NORCAT is at around stage three or four.
Â?Will a drill being built in Sudbury go actually go to Mars? Maybe. ItÂ?s quite possible.Â?
Boucher said there are three potential missions right now. One is the unmanned MSL Mars science
lab mission set for launch in 2009.
A later mission Â? which Boucher couldnÂ?t talk about Â? is scheduled for 2011. It could carry a version of the drill being developed at NORCAT.
Things could be bumped up because of a manned European Space Agency program. Dubbed Â?AuroraÂ? the project is in what could be described as its infancy stage.
Â?They have left some room for development of mining technology,Â? said Boucher.
Â?And we are at the present, front and centre on the radar screen in terms of development of our mining technologies for support of a manned mission to Mars.Â?
That mission likely wouldnÂ?t go up until the year 2025.
Â?So I probably wouldnÂ?t go but one of my sons might,Â? said Boucher.
Boucher said NORCAT has been promoting the development of mining technologies in space exploration and development for a number of years. The drill, he said, is just one of those technologies the lab has been working on and formulating over many years.
Â?ItÂ?s quite intriguing to think that we have reached a global standard,Â? said Boucher.
Â?In fact some of the standards, some of the tests and technologies we developed here, in this lab, are now being used internationally as baseline testing for other technologies being developed in Europe and the US.Â?
NORCAT business manager Normand Lavallee started with the organization about three years ago.
What makes the top-secret facility an excellent one is the opportunity to take chances and make things happen, said Lavallee.
Â?Taking chances and trying to improve whatÂ?s happening in Northern Ontario and bring what doesnÂ?t exist here. Who would have thought that weÂ?d be developing a drill in Sudbury for exploration outside of EarthÂ?thatÂ?s part of the excitement.Â?
Norcat officials say they hope to still be around working on new and exciting projects 10 years from now, while looking at the Mars explorer and its drill landing on the red planet with a big Sudbury sticker stuck on its side.
