By KELLY LOUISEIZE
Northern Ontario Business
Canadian scientists are going to Mars in 2011, and representatives from private and public industry visited Sudbury hailing opportunities for technology-driven institutions.
A conference on Planetary & Terrestrial Mining Sciences Symposium held June 8 through 11 at NORCAT’s mine site brought members from NASSA, Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the United States and mining gurus together to merge mining technologies with space missions.
Community input will be the No.1 driver in bringing the Mars mission to reality, says Alain Berinstain, PhD, MSS director of Planetary Exploration and Space Astronomy.
“In Canada, science interest for Mars is there,” he says.
“It has turned out to be a theme around which we can rally together to move forward.”
A 2007 Phoenix mission will carry Canadian instruments like the Canadian Met Station, which will help to better understand atmospheric conditions on Mars before the big launch in 2011.
The main impetus will be to study water on Mars. According to current data, Mars does host water, and Berinstain says scientists want to “get under the surface of Mars” to investigate soil and water composition, since it may hold fuel sources for further expeditions.
Scientists are turning to industries in Canada to assist in bringing technology forward. Manipulator systems, such as arms, acquisition systems and mining and extracting equipment, could make Canadian scientists the first to touch, sort and examine samples from Mars.
“Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Canada was the one doing this?” Berinstain asks.
He says he can easily see a marriage between technological mining developments and space exploration.
Robotics systems will be key to new discoveries on Mars. Orbital rendezvous automated intelligence and computer systems will be an integral part of the missions. Tests can be done in places on earth, which resemble Mars’ geological and climate composition.
Announcements for opportunities relating to landers or orbiters will be consultative as concepts for the 2007 and 2011 mission will be selected, then shortlisted for further studies. Understanding costs and risks will be considered, and previous workshops indicate budgets to the space agency must
be below $150 million(Cdn).
