TORONTO, May 14, 2008 -- York University researchers leading the Canadian science team for NASA’s Phoenix Mission will hold a media briefing on Friday, May 16, prior to the spacecraft’s scheduled landing on Mars on May 25.
Phoenix marks the first time Canada will take part in a Mars landing. It carries a Canadian-built weather station, including sophisticated laser instrumentation designed and built by scientists at York University, the Canadian Space Agency, the University of Alberta, Dalhousie University, and the University of Aarhus (Denmark), in partnership with MDA Space Missions and Optech Inc.
This meteorological instrument package (MET) will gather crucial data about the weather and climate on Mars, and provide a comprehensive picture of the atmosphere at the landing site, 1,200 km from the planet’s north pole. This is the first time such data has been collected.
The MET package consists of temperature, wind, and pressure sensors, as well as a laser-based-light-detecting-and-ranging (lidar) system. The lidar will shoot pulses of laser light into the Martian sky, precisely measuring components of the atmosphere such as dust, ground fog, and clouds, from the surface up to a range of 20 km.
Researchers will receive this daily weather report for the duration of the mission – approximately 92 days, or 90 Martian sols.
"We’re very excited to be deploying Canadian technology on Mars for the first time," says principal investigator Jim Whiteway, Associate Professor of Space Engineering at York University. "The information our instrumentation will gather on the formation and movement of clouds, fogs, and dust plumes should offer new insights into the climate of Mars and the planet’s potential for supporting life."
Phoenix, a joint project of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratories and the University of Arizona, is the first scout mission to study the Martian ice cap. Alongside gathering of atmospheric data, the lander will attempt to dig to an ice-rich layer believed to lie very close to the planet’s surface, allowing scientists to gather evidence about climate cycles and investigate whether the environment there has been favorable for microbial life.
The lander is set to touch down on the surface of Mars on Sunday, May 25, at approximately 7:38 pm EDT. Scientists hope to receive the first signal from the lander at approximately 7:53 pm EDT. York University researchers will be onsite in Tucson, Arizona for the duration of the mission.
The MET package was constructed with $37 million in funding from the Canadian Space Agency.
When: Friday, May 16, 2008, 12:30 pm
Where: Room 401, Petrie Science & Engineering Building, Keele Campus, York University
Media contact: Melissa Hughes, Media Relations, York University: 416 736 2100 x22097, mehughes@yorku.ca
Note: A model of the lidar will be demonstrated. B-roll of the NASA landing simulation will be available.
The members of York’s Phoenix team are:
Dr. Jim Whiteway, Associate Professor of Space Engineering and Canada Research Chair in Space and Engineering and Atmospheric Science at York University. Professor Whiteway is a noted expert in the use of lidar technology to study cloud processes. He is the team’s principal investigator and led the design, testing, and implementation of the lidar system.
Dr. Allan Carswell, Professor Emeritus, Department of Physics & Astronomy, Faculty of Science & Engineering. Professor Carswell is one of Canada’s pre-eminent space scientists, and an internationally-recognized leader in the field of lidar systems. In 1974, he founded Optech Inc., to develop commercial systems based on lidar technology. The lidar technology pioneered by Professor Carswell will measure dust, clouds and fog in the Martian atmosphere.
Dr. Peter Taylor, Professor of Atmospheric Science and Applied Mathematics, Department of Earth & Space Science & Engineering, Faculty of Science & Engineering. Professor Taylor studies wind and blowing snow in the Canadian Arctic, making him an ideal scientist for research into the Martian sub-polar climate. He and his team completed wind tunnel testing of the temperature sensors that will be used on the Mars lander, and conduct research into issues related to dust concentrations in the lower atmosphere of Mars and sublimation of exposed ice surfaces.
Dr. Cameron Dickinson, Research Associate, is studying the scattering of laser light with airborne Martian dust. Dr. Dickinson will be heavily involved in the operations of the meteorological instruments, including creation of the daily commands that will be uploaded to the lander, and managing the data that is sent back to earth twice each day. He will also assist the science team at large, organizing and scheduling the experiments for all six instruments each day.
Media contact:
Melissa Hughes, Media Relations, York University: 416 736 2100 x22097, mehughes@yorku.ca
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