Former rocket launchers, Churchill, Manitoba.
I’ve moved from town to barracks set deep in the bush. This is the site of Canada’s first and only rocket research facility. From 1956 until the mid 80’s, rockets were launched deep into space to better understand the behaviour of the aurora borealus, which I’m told at the time were disrupting signals. It was, after all, the cold war. Now it’s a research facility for visiting scientists. They are studying lots of things, but not rockets.
It’s been raining for days. Raining too hard to traverse marshy bogland in search of biting flies (pity.) In the distance I can see tin-can structures, pointed skyward. This is all that remains of the Canadian military’s lengthy operations in the region.
I want to go and explore them, but I’m told it’s too dangerous. I can’t be sure if this is because the buildings are old and weathered, or because there are polar bears lurking just beyond the next willow.
