Congratulations To HFI Pyrotechnics

As Canada sent its first astronaut to travel to the moon, a local company helped bring him back to Earth.

HFI Pyrotechnics, a Prescott-area pyrotechnics company, supplied the marine marker that was used to outline the target landing zone and its conditions during Artemis II’s splashdown after its 10-day mission in space.

The use of this marker came as a complete surprise to everyone at HFI Pyrotechnics, and the company’s president did a double-take when she was watching the live broadcast of the spacecraft’s landing.

“I was watching it and wondered if I was seeing things,” said Rhiannon Iles, president of HFI Pyrotechnics. “I rewound the newscast and confirmed what I thought I saw, it was definitely our smoking marker. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.”

HFI Pyrotechnics has been the sole supplier of marine location markers for the United States Navy since 2012, and since the navy was involved in the splashdown, Iles knew it had to be their marker being used out on the Pacific Ocean.

In this unique case, the marker was used to indicate where the target landing spot was for the spacecraft, and the smoke that it emits is used to calculate the wind and current’s speed and direction.

“From the broadcast I couldn’t tell which model they used, but I know it’s ours,” said Iles. “We’ve been the only ones that supply markers to the U.S. navy for many years, and it’s unlikely they’d have 15-year-old inventory that they’d be using.”

The marker has a saltwater-activated battery, so when it hits the saltwater, the battery completes the circuit and initiates pyrotechnics.

That ends up lighting the red phosphorus candle inside it, which creates the flame and smoke.

A member of United States Navy gets ready to deploy a marine location marker made by HFI Pyrotechnics. Photo by HFI PYROTECHNICS

When the navy isn’t using them for once-in-a-generation space missions, it typically uses them in man-overboard missions, drills and surveying.

“It’s actually pretty low-tech,” said Iles. “There’s no GPS beacon, no electronic stuff – it’s truly analog and unable to be scrambled. Once it’s done, it sinks.”

Along with being the sole supplier of markers for the U.S. navy, HFI Pyrotechnics is also the sole supplier for the Canadian Armed Forces.

For a company located in small-town eastern Ontario, HFI Pyrotechnics is a significant player in the industry.

“The U.S. navy put out a request for a quote, and we just simply bid on it and won,” said Iles. “In Canada, we also have an exclusive contract with the military to be the sole-source provider for marine markers, as well as other devices.”

Even though the company is located nearly 4,500 kilometres away from where this mission ended up landing, it was still able to be a small part of this historic moment in humanity’s journey to space.

“It was so cool to see our little marine marker show up on the big stage,” said Iles. “For a small company in eastern Ontario, this was an incredible moment for us. This Artemis mission symbolized togetherness, supporting each other, and international co-operation. I’m happy we were able to play a small part in that.”

https://www.recorder.ca/news/prescott-area-company-helped-artemis-ii-return-to-earth