Kitikmeot Foods product heads into orbit
Kevin Wilson
Northern News Services
Cambridge Bay (Apr 16/01) - It's a mission with a distinctly Northern flavour.
Meat jerky, made from caribou and muskox are boldly going where no country foods have gone before.
Made in Cambridge Bay and Rankin Inlet by Kitikmeot Foods, the jerky is Astronaut Chris Hadfield's gift to his fellow astronauts during this week's mission of the space shuttle Endeavour.
Kitikmeot Foods sent NASA samples of the jerky three months ago.
Gary Connors, General Manager of Kitikmeot Foods, says the quality of the products going on the shuttle are "second to none".
The Cambridge Bay facility processes about 400 muskox annually for markets in Nunavut, NWT and Ontario.
Connors says that the Hadfield's gift is a boon to Kitikmeot Foods.
"It's very exciting to have our products go into space. It gives our product free advertising."
Yellowknife's Anna Leblanc, a good friend of Hadfield's helped to lay on a supply of the chewy treats. Hadfield will be flying on shuttle mission STS-100. The flight's goal is to deliver and install the International Space Station's new Canadarm.
Leblanc has been a friend of Hadfield's for about five years now, since he visited the Northwest Territories prior to division in 1997.
She is the wife of former Canadian Forces Northern Area commander Col. Pierre Leblanc.
The people of the North made such a strong impression on Hadfield, that he decided that he wanted to take a bit of the territories into orbit.
"He was very impressed by the way people in the (North) were in harmony with the land," said Leblanc.
At the time, Hadfield decided he would take caribou, muskox, and arctic char jerky.
"All of them passed NASA's tests," for food going into space, Leblanc said.
However, the char jerky had oil in it that could cause difficulties in the weightless environment of space.
In a media release, Hadfield said the jerky is "lightweight and long lasting ... a perfect food source for space travel."
Leblanc says that the jerky is, "his personal gift to the crew and the astronauts on the space station."
While the astronauts are going through their preparations,
Leblanc will be getting to know Hadfield's friends and family, as well as the friends and families of the other astronauts at a series of socials hosted by NASA.
"I'm very excited to be going," she said.
Food isn't the only item from the North to head into space next week.
Hadfield will carry a crest from the Yellowknife Air Cadets Corps into orbit.
Five cadets from the corps will be at the Kennedy Space Centre to watch the launch.
