Marc Garneau

Canadian astronaut and politician

• Born: February 23, 1949
• Place of Birth: Quebec City, Quebec, Canada

Marc Garneau made history as the first Canadian in outer space, serving on a US space shuttle mission in 1984 as well as two later missions. He later became president of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). Garneau then moved into politics, holding a seat in the Canadian Parliament from 2008 to 2023. He also served as minister of transport from 2015 to 2021 and minister of foreign affairs in 2021.

Early Life

Marc Garneau was born Joseph Jean-Pierre Marc Garneau in Quebec City, Canada. He received his early education in Quebec City and in Saint-Jean, Quebec. After his parents, Jean and Andre Garneau, moved to England, he continued his education in London. Garneau returned to Canada and received a bachelor of science degree in engineering physics from the Royal Military College of Kingston, Ontario, in 1970. He was awarded a doctorate in electrical engineering from the Imperial College of Science and Technology, London, in 1973.

Garneau joined the Canadian navy and served as a combat systems engineer on the HMCS Algonquin from 1974 to 1976. From 1976 to 1977 he served as an instructor in naval weapons systems at the Canadian Forces Fleet School in Halifax, Nova Scotia. While there, he designed a simulator used to train weapons officers in the use of missile systems. He served in a variety of engineering positions in the Canadian navy, first as project engineer in naval weapon systems in Ottawa from 1977 to 1980. He then returned to Halifax, where he served in the Naval Engineering Unit, helping to develop an aircraft-towed target system for measuring the accuracy of naval gunnery practice. Garneau was promoted to commander in 1982, and he attended the Canadian Forces Command and Staff College in Toronto from 1982 to 1983.

Life’s Work

Canada and the United States cooperated in the exploration of space from the beginning of the space age, and the development in the early 1980s of the space shuttle provided an opportunity to extend Canada's contributions to human space travel. After reaching an agreement with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Canadian government issued a call for the selection of the first group of Canadian astronauts. In December 1983, Garneau was one of six Canadians selected from a group of about four thousand applicants for astronaut training.

Garneau reported to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, in February 1984 to begin training as an astronaut. Following a one-year training and evaluation program, he qualified for flight assignment as a payload specialist, an astronaut whose major responsibility is to conduct experiments on the space shuttle. Initially, Garneau worked on the Robotics Integration Team for the Astronaut Office, and he also served as capsule communicator (CAPCOM) in Mission Control during several shuttle flights.

Garneau became the first Canadian in space when he flew as a payload specialist on the space shuttle Challenger from October 5 to 13, 1984. This eight-day mission was the first shuttle flight to carry a full seven-person crew. On this mission Garneau operated CANEX-1, a package of Canadian experiments that focused on the human body’s responses to space, including the sensitivity of nerve endings and the effect of space travel on motion sickness. Because he was not trained as a mission specialist, an astronaut whose primary responsibility is the operation of orbiter systems, Garneau could not operate the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SRMS), or Canadarm. The Canadarm, developed in Canada, was a robotic arm used to deploy and recover payloads.

When the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) was established by an act of Parliament in 1989, Garneau resigned from the navy to become deputy director of the Canadian Astronaut Program. His role was to provide technical and program support necessary to prepare experiments that would fly during future Canadian shuttle missions.

After he had served as deputy director of the Canadian Astronaut Program for three years, NASA provided Canada with the opportunity to train astronauts for the position of mission specialist on the space shuttle. Garneau applied to the program and was accepted. He returned to the Johnson Space Center for training in August 1992. Following training, Garneau again worked as a CAPCOM for a several space shuttle flights before being selected to fly on Endeavour from May 19–29, 1996. The shuttle’s payload bay contained the pressurized SPACEHAB-4 module, which carried nearly three thousand pounds of equipment for experiments in biotechnology, electronic materials, polymers, and agriculture. Garneau assisted in operating the Canadian Float Zone Furnace, a major experiment on SPACEHAB-4, which was developed jointly by NASA, the CSA, and the German Space Agency to produce large, ultrapure crystals of such semiconductor materials as gallium arsenide. On this flight Garneau also used the SRMS to retrieve a satellite, Spartan, and return it to the shuttle’s payload bay.

Garneau flew on Endeavour again, from November 30 to December 11, 2000, becoming the first Canadian to fly three missions in space. On that flight Garneau served as the flight engineer during the launch and landing phases, and he assisted in the navigation for rendezvous and docking with the International Space Station (ISS). He operated the SRMS to install solar panels on the ISS, and he became the first Canadian to enter the ISS crew area.

Garneau was appointed executive vice president of the CSA in February, 2001. That April the Space Station Remote Manipulator System, or Canadarm-2, was delivered to the ISS. On April 28 the ISS’s new Canadarm-2 handed a 3,000-pound packing crate to the Canadarm on Endeavour, the most complicated robotic feat ever attempted in space at the time. Following this complicated mission, Garneau was promoted to CSA president in November 2001.

After serving as president, Garneau resigned from the CSA in 2006 to run as a Liberal Party candidate for a seat in Parliament in the 2006 election. However, he lost by 9,200 votes. In 2008, he ran again, this time for the riding of Westmount–Ville-Marie, Quebec, which he won. Over the following years he became a

Garneau was reelected in 2011 and subsequently served as the House leader of the Liberal Party from June 1, 2011, until November 27, 2012. He made a brief run for leadership of the entire Liberal Party, but left the race in favor of Justin Trudeau in early 2013. Garneau was reelected to Parliament again in 2015, representing the newly formed Notre-Dame-de-Grace—Westmount riding. The Liberals came into power after that election, and with Trudeau as prime minister, Garneau was appointed minister of transport. In that post he continued to build a reputation as experienced and widely respected leader.

In January 2021 Garneau was moved from minister of transport to minister of foreign affairs. He served less than a year in that position, however, as he was dropped from Trudeau's cabinet after the October 2021 elections. Garneau did win reelection, and kept his seat in Parliament until announcing his retirement in March 2023.

Significance

As the first Canadian to fly in space, Garneau brought national and international attention to Canada’s space program. He also paved the way for Canada’s participation in programs of the International Space Station. During the period that Garneau led the CSA, the agency increased its contributions to space technology and provided a host of well-trained personnel to the international efforts in space exploration. The CSA collaborated especially with NASA and the European Space Agency. Garneau received many awards and honors for his historic contribution's to Canada's space program, including recognition as an Officer (1984) and Companion (2003) in the Order of Canada, featuring on a Canadian postage stamp, and induction into the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame in 2008.

Garneau's popularity in Canada and his skills as a leader were also reflected in his successful political career. Throughout his fifteen-year service in Parliament he consistently won elections by a comfortable margin. He developed a strong reputation as a leading figure in the Liberal Party, particularly through his service as minister of transport.

Bibliography

America’s Space Shuttle: Shuttle Mission Reports and Astronaut Biographies, Documents on the Past, Present and Future of the Shuttle: Twenty Years of Accomplishment. World Spaceflight News. Mt. Laurel: Progressive Management, 2001.

Cooper, Henry S. F., Jr. Before Lift-off: The Making of a Space Shuttle Crew. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1987.

Côté, Françoise, et al. "Marc Garneau." The Canadian Encyclopedia, 15 Mar. 2023, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/marc-garneau. Accessed 21 Aug. 2024.

Dotto, Lydia. The Astronauts: Canada’s Voyageurs in Space. Toronto: Stoddard, 1993.

Dotto, Lydia. Canada in Space. Toronto: Irwin, 1987.

Gainor, Chris. Arrows to the Moon. Burlington: Apogee, 2001.

Geddes, John. "The Space Between Them." Maclean's 126.4 (2013): 1. Academic Search Complete. Web. 16 Dec. 2013.