John Herbert Chapman
 |
John Herbert Chapman |
John Herbert Chapman (
August 8 1921 -
September 28,
1979) from
London, Ontario, son of Lt. Col. Lloyd Chapman and Kathleen Chapman, was a
Canadian space researcher. Chapman started his career with his work on
radio propagation and the
ionosphere. He later received a Master of Science degree and a Ph.D. in physics at
McGill University in
Montreal, Quebec. After his studies at university Chapman got his first position in the government with the
Defense Research Board (DRB). He was then promoted to the position of section leader of the ionospheric propagation unit at the
Defense Research Telecommunications Establishment (DRTE) in
1951 at
Shirley's Bay, a Canadian military and civilian telecommunication research campus.
While at Shirley's Bay he worked on a number of projects. One of the projects he directed was the ground-breaking Canadian satellite called
Alouette. The DRTE having no experience developing
satellites had to work quite hard to think of and counter all the difficulties they would face in the harsh environment of space. Because of his work on Alouette he was promoted to chairman of government study group to study the upper atmosphere and space programs in Canada.
While chairman, he compiled his findings into "The Chapman Report" in which he argued that Canada needed to redirect its space program in order to continue its ongoing research more effectively and efficiently. "The Chapman Report" remains an important document in helping the
Canadian Space Agency choose what they should work on when it comes to
space programs.
Chapman was given awards for his work in aero-space technology. The first was given by the
Royal Society of Canada in
1966; he also received an Engineering medal from the Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario and the Dillinger Gold Medal from the International Union of Radio Scientists the same year. In
1967 Chapman was awarded with the Charles Chree Medal and Prize and the McCurdy award from the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institution.
Chapman was a member of the
Royal Society of Canada. He was also part of the
National Research Council (NRC) Associate committee on Space Research, a council of the top Canadian space scientists. He also served on the
International Union of Radio Science and the
American Geophysical Union.
After his death in the year
1979, the Canadian Space Agency was formed to organize and give Canada its own space agency to create a central place to meet and work on Canadian space projects. With this new organization Canada has been able to construct and launch new projects into orbit. One of the most important Canadian projects is
Canadarm which has become used frequently on the
International Space Station (or ISS for short).
When the headquarters building of the Canadian Space Agency was completed in
1992, it was named the
John H. Chapman Space Centre, in his honour.
*
Digital Collections government website - About John Herbert Chapman*
Science.ca Profile: John Herbert Chapman
