TORONTO, July 31, 2003 – The United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on Friday will announce the winning proposal for the 2007 "Scout" mission to Mars. Two of the four finalists include Canadian participation.

York University Space scientist and Chairman of Optech Incorporated, Allan Carswell, is leading a Canadian team of researchers in the Phoenix project, one of the four finalists for the Scout mission. If Phoenix wins, the Canadian team, including York professors Diane Michelangeli and Peter Taylor, will employ laser radar (lidar) technology developed by Optech to study the Martian atmosphere. 

The U.S.-led Phoenix proposal is to land a craft on the surface of Mars in June 2008 to search for habitable zones and study the history of water on the red planet. Optech’s lidar expertise will contribute to the understanding of the Martian atmosphere. The Canadian team will conduct climate studies that provide information on the present-day Mars environment, and water vapor information that may contain clues to the possibility of life on the planet.

York professor John McConnell, internationally recognized for his study of planetary atmospheres, is a member of the MICA project, the Canadian contribution to the Marvel proposal, another finalist for the Scout mission.

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For further information, please contact:

Nancy White
Director Media Relations
York University
416-736-5603
whiten@yorku.ca

YU/075/03