York U leads Canadian team for NASA Phoenix Mission
TORONTO, May 25, 2008 -- Canadian technology has landed on Mars for the first time in history, allowing York University scientists to begin gathering data on the Martian climate and atmosphere.
The NASA Phoenix lander touched down safely on the surface of Mars at approximately 7:38 pm EDT, beaming its first signal to researchers gathered at the University of Arizona, which will serve as the mission’s command centre for the next 90 days.
York University scientists will receive a daily weather report from Phoenix’s Canadian-built meteorological station, which will gather crucial information about the 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 will be collected.
The team expects to issue its first weather report as early as Thursday, May 29. They will remain in Arizona for the duration of the mission.
“It’s a very anxious feeling, when years of work culminate in one crucial moment,” says Jim Whiteway, Associate Professor of Space Engineering at York University, and lead investigator for the Canadian science team. “We’re elated [the landing] was a success. There’s an enormous sense of relief.”
The meteorological 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.
"Our instrumentation will observe clouds and dust and this will provide new insight into the climate of Mars and the planet’s potential for supporting life,” Whiteway says.
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 meteorological component of the mission is a collaboration led by York University, in partnership with the University of Alberta, Dalhousie University, the University of Aarhus (Denmark), the Finnish Meteorological Institute, MDA Space Missions, and Optech Inc., with $37 million in funding from the Canadian Space Agency.
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. 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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