TORONTO, May 29, 2008 -- A sophisticated, Canadian-built laser instrument aboard the NASA Phoenix lander has transmitted its first data from Mars to Earth – a milestone for Canadian scientists, led by York University professor Jim Whiteway.
Whiteway released the first measurements from Phoenix’s lidar (laser-based light-detection-and-ranging) instrument during a NASA media briefing today at 2 pm EDT.
“The Canadian team is walking on moonbeams today,” Whiteway said. “We can now add dust and cloud measurements to our reports, because the lidar is up and running.”
The lidar, which measures dust, ground fog, and clouds by shooting rapid pulses of laser light into Mars’ atmosphere, took its first measurement on Sol 2, at approximately noon. (Martian days, which are longer than those on Earth, are called “Sols.”)
Data showed dust lofted up to a height of 3.5 kilometers. The lidar is a critical component of the Canadian-built meteorological station aboard Phoenix, which is also measuring the weather on Mars, including temperature, wind, and pressure data.
Weather at the Phoenix landing site on Sol 2 was sunny with moderate dust, with a high of -30 C and a low of -80 C. Whiteway’s team noted what appears to be a significant increase in dustiness compared to the lander’s first day on Mars.
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.
Phoenix media briefings are streamed live on the NASA TV website, at: http://www.nasa.tv .
Media contact:
Melissa Hughes, Media Relations, York University: 416 736 2100 x22097, mehughes@yorku.ca
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