Canadian weather station receives $19.5 million from Canadian Space Agency
TORONTO, October 27, 2005 -- York University scientists and industry representatives today welcomed the announcement by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) of a final contribution of $6 million to build a fully- integrated weather station for NASA’s 2007 Phoenix Mission to Mars. The announcement was held at York and featured key members of the Phoenix team responsible for the Canadian component for the NASA mission, including York space scientists, MDA and Optech, as well as enthusiastic York students.
The Phoenix mission will land on Mars in 2008 and study the climate, the geological history of water, and the potential of the soil to support life on the planet.
“For the first time in history, Canada’s scientific expertise and instrumentation will be deployed on the surface of Mars,” said Lorna R. Marsden, York’s President and Vice-Chancellor. “We are very proud of the contribution that York scientists are making to this groundbreaking NASA mission. York is truly at the forefront of space studies and research in the country.”
The Canadian Space Agency is contributing a total of $19.5 million for the design and construction of the lander’s fully-integrated meteorological instrument package, known as MET. MDA of Brampton, Ontario, is the prime contractor for the MET, which will feature instruments to measure pressure and temperature and assess climate patterns in Mars’ northern region.
“This is Canada’s first mission to Mars, working with our NASA partners,” said York Prof. Peter Taylor. “Improving our understanding of complex weather patterns on Mars is important to future exploration − and perhaps one day to manned missions to the red planet.” 
“Canada has an exciting role in the international Mars expedition and our scientific and industrial space expertise gains recognition by contributing to this key experiment,” said Dr. Vicky Hipkin, Program Scientist for Planetary Exploration at the Canadian Space Agency. “MET will assist in the Phoenix mission’s study of water. Discoveries about the severe weather on Mars are very important to our understanding of the planet.”
Toronto-based Optech is responsible for the application of a laser-based light-detecting and ranging “lidar” system that will be used to test the atmosphere created by concentrations of fog, dust and clouds. The lidar instrument to study cloud heights and dust profiles is a unique feature of the MET package.
The science team in Canada is being led by York University’s Department of Earth & Space Science & Engineering. Optech is chaired by York Professor Emeritus Allan Carswell, one of the country’s pre-eminent space scientists who championed Canada’s involvement in the NASA Scout Mission. York Professors and renowned space experts Peter Taylor, Diane Michelangeli and Jim Whiteway are the program’s lead scientists, supported by faculty from two other Canadian universities.
“Landing close to the icy martian north polar cap in spring will let us study a remarkable feature of the martian climate,” added Prof. Taylor. “Each spring a significant mass of water ice evaporates from the polar cap forming seasonal ice clouds. There are lots of questions about where this water ice ends up and how stable the current martian ice cap is. Observing these clouds and dust storms with the Phoenix lidar will provide exciting new insight into the climate of Mars."
Prof. Taylor concluded by noting that space research is a team activity and that Phoenix is providing an excellent opportunity for York researchers to actively collaborate with others from the United States, Germany, Britain, Denmark and Finland.
York is the only university in Canada that grants both undergraduate and graduate degrees in Space Science.
York University is the leading interdisciplinary research and teaching university in Canada. York offers a modern, academic experience at the undergraduate and graduate level in Toronto, Canada’s most international city. The third largest university in the country, York is host to a dynamic academic community of 50,000 students and 7,000 faculty and staff, as well as 190,000 alumni worldwide. York’s 10 faculties and 21 research centres conduct ambitious, groundbreaking research that is interdisciplinary, cutting across traditional academic boundaries. This distinctive and collaborative approach is preparing students for the future and bringing fresh insights and solutions to real-world challenges. York University is an autonomous, not-for-profit corporation.
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For further information, media should contact:
Nancy J. White, Director of Media Relations, York University, 416 736 2100 x22094 or whiten@yorku.ca
Melissa Hughes, Media Relations, York University, 416 736 2100 x22097 or mehughes@yorku.ca
