Telesat Tour

This past Tuesday, our meeting was held at the Telesat facilities in Gloucester. There were 16 cubs and 3 leaders present. I think it turned out to be a great event.

Kids arrived at 7pm and received an official and personalized building pass (that they get to keep). We proceeded to the Satellite Control Centre (SCC) where a most gracious host (Mike Ryer) gave the group a great presentation on the SCC and its role within Telesat. The kids also got a chance to see the SCC from behind a window.

Above: Watching the presentationAbove: Taking a peek at the SCC room

After the SCC we proceeded to the R&D Lab. The SCC is where the satellites are controlled and monitored but the R&D lab shows off the various applications that are employed over satellite (ie: broadcast, broadband, etc...). The kids got to see some fancy videoconferencing applications, medical(ultrasound) application and the famous HD Movie Theatre room (showcases eCinema).

It wasn't long that 8:15pm was upon us. We left the R&D lab and headed back towards the entrance where the parents were patiently waiting (we were about 10 minutes late). On the way to the entrance we took a group shot in front of the rocket "fairing". This piece is part of an enclosure that houses the satellite during the launch. It is dismantled prior to pushing the bird into space and the fairing pieces fall into the ocean. This time (possibly a 1st time ever) a piece was recovered by a local fisherman and eventually made its way to Telesat. Pretty cool.

Group pic in front of fairing.

I think this was a great (fun and informative) experience for the kids and adults alike.
YIS
Shere Khan.

PS : Reminders:
1. There is NO meeting next week.
2. The following week (after march break) please bring in your completed cub cars for an in-house race
3. Have a great march break.