Longueuil, Quebec, September 27, 2013 — The Canadian Space Agency wishes to extend our sincere condolences to Mrs. Colleen Lapp and the family of Canadian space pioneer Dr. Philip Lapp who dedicated his life to space and aerospace innovation, ingenuity, and excellence. He passed away on September 25th in Toronto at 85 after a long illness.
Philip Lapp is shown in an undated handout photo from the Canadian Air and Space Museum.
Dr. Lapp was the co-author of the "Chapman Report", which launched Canada's Space Policy in 1967. While John H. Chapman is deemed the Father of the Canadian Space Program, Dr. Lapp is considered as one of its main architects and was instrumental in launching Canada in space over half a century ago.
An Officer of the Order of Canada and recipient of numerous high level awards, Dr. Lapp’s impressive list of space achievements also includes:
- helping to build Canada's first satellite Alouette
- working on the early NASA capsules
- leading the mechanical-engineering division on the famed Avro Arrow project
- co-founding SPAR Aerospace, which built the first Canadarm
- contributing to getting Canada's RADARSAT program off the ground
- contributing to the antennas for NASA's Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space capsule
- establishing the Canadian Astronautical Society, the predecessor to the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute
- volunteering his time as a member of the board of the Canadian Air and Space museum in Toronto until he became ill