A Note from Aaron

When I was a kid, growing up south of Vancouver, British Columbia, my maternal grandfather’s name wasn’t often mentioned.

I knew he and my mother, Marla Mayson, were very close, that he was originally from Toronto, Ontario, and that he had served in World War II with the Canadian Army. There are two photographs of him on display at home, but most are in albums or in storage. Every once in a while I would ask my Mom to tell me stories about my grandfather. You see, I never knew the man. He passed away in 1988, and I wouldn’t be born for another ten years. I would learn that after his army service, he eventually rose to be an executive with Spar Aerospace Limited, the company that built the Canadarm for NASA’s Space Shuttles, often touted as Canada’s greatest technological contribution to the world. This would be all I knew about him for years. And his name;

Ireal.

Shortly after moving to Toronto in 2022, I began researching the work that my grandfather was involved in. After the war, Ireal A. Mayson studied Engineering Physics at the University of Toronto, and would go on to work in electronics, aerospace, and telecommunications. As a Vice-President of RCA Canada, he was involved in production of virtually all of Canada’s early satellites, and would continue this work with Spar Aerospace when the latter acquired RCA’s satellite systems division. My grandfather played a vital role in the development of Canada’s satellite industry, bringing Canadian technology to the developing world, and helping to lay the groundwork for how we communicate today. His greatest achievement however, came in 1982, when after months and months of negotiations led by Ireal and his team, Spar Aerospace won the $165 million-dollar Prime Contract to build Brazil's first domestic telecommunications satellite system, the first of its kind in Latin America;

Brasilsat.

I pondered the idea of telling Ireal’s story, but what would act as the fuel to propel it forward? The universe answered, and after discovering a cassette tape with thirty-minutes of Ireal’s voice on it, numerous pieces of memorabilia, and his ashes—still in a box and never scattered—I knew I had all the pieces.

Finding Ireal will showcase Canada’s rich space-faring history and contributions to the world, my journey of discovery and connection with the grandfather I never knew, and the future of space in Canada with my ultimate goal; launching Ireal’s ashes into orbit.

- Aaron M. Mayson Smail