The post Searching for clues to Martian mystery appeared first on News@91亚色.

Researcher available for interviews for first time from Axel Heiberg Island, Nunavut, where conditions mimic those on red planet

颅TORONTO, July 13, 2023 - A 91亚色 astrobiologist and her team have arrived by chartered plane on MARS 鈥� an arctic research station situated on a polar desert island in Nunavut where they will study the 鈥渢antalizing biosignature鈥� of methane gas, execute Mars Rover simulations and go for midnight hikes.  

Haley Sapers, Adjunct professor at 91亚色 in the Lassonde School of Engineering and visiting scientist with the California Institute of Technology, is currently at the McGill Arctic Research Station (MARS) on Axel Heiberg Island. Although once travelled by Indigenous people, Axel Heiberg is currently uninhabited and only used by scientific expeditions and adventure companies. With stark landscapes in one of the northernmost regions in Canada, Sapers says the island is a unique environment, as beautiful as it is illuminating, and not just because of its 24-hour summertime sun. 

鈥淲ith its permafrost-hosted methane seeps, this is really the only place in the world that you can go to study this phenomenon,鈥� says Sapers. 鈥淎dditionally, the polygonal terrain here, which looks very similar to polygonal terrain on Mars, is a compelling geological analogue.鈥�

The conditions in the Martian subsurface are consistent with the habitats of some extreme forms of microorganisms here on Earth, such as those that may live in hyper-saline cold springs in the Arctic. The gas released from the island鈥檚 springs could function in a similar way to methane gas plumes on Mars, which present one of science鈥檚 current greatest mysteries:  Where is it coming from? Does methane signal life on Mars the same way its presence on Earth does? And do these plumes give clues to what areas of Mars could be inhabited down the line?

Less than a one-hour hike from MARS, several springs situated on Gypsum Hill near the bank of a river formed by glacier run-off streams emit the methane gas the researchers are interested in. 

To measure the seeps, Sapers and the team  鈥� which includes scientists from Caltech and McGill, fellow 91亚色 professors at the Centre for Research in Earth and Space Science in the Lassonde School of Engineering Mike Daly and John Moores, and 91亚色 graduate students Alex Innanen, Elisa Dong, Grace Bischof and Madeleine Walters 鈥�  are partnering with Quebec-based technology and engineering company ABB Inc. to create a spectrometer capable of frequent and sensitive measurements of methane gas on the red planet.

鈥淭here's no such thing as definitive proof that we have life on Mars, unless we go there and we can shake hands with the Martians,鈥� says Sapers. 鈥淭he fact that we see methane on Mars suggests two things: it's an energy source for microorganisms and, on Earth, it's produced by microorganisms. So it gives us more clues as to present-day habitability and clues as to where life could be.鈥�

Using geobiology techniques developed for ocean research cruises, the team will combine detailed biological and chemical sampling with methane measurements from the deep sediments of the spring and analyze the microbes to see if they can oxidize methane.

鈥淭he oxidation of methane by microbes in deep-ocean methane seeps prevents large amounts of this greenhouse gas from being released into the atmosphere,鈥� explains Sapers. 鈥淯nderstanding if the arctic microbes are capable of methane oxidation not only has implications for possible life on Mars, but would also show the importance of Arctic microorganisms in mitigating increased methane emission as a result of warming temperatures in the Arctic.鈥�

The researchers, whose work is being sponsored by the Canadian Space Agency, will also take methane readings in the atmosphere, giving valuable information on how climate change may affect the flux of methane into the Earth鈥檚 surface, and Innanen, who has experience with the Curiosity Rover currently on Mars, will lead the group in a simulated mission. 

While not her first trip to the island, with MARS now having access to solar-powered WI-FI via Starlink for the first time, Sapers says this year鈥檚 trip is a vastly different one.

鈥淚t makes interviews and mission simulations possible, but it really changes the character of the experience. It no longer feels like we鈥檙e a world away.鈥�

Sapers is available for interviews from MARS until July 19 in the mornings and evenings via video conferencing, weather conditions permitting.

Additional photos and video footage available by request.

About 91亚色

91亚色 is a modern, multi-campus, urban university located in Toronto, Ontario. Backed by a diverse group of students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners, we bring a uniquely global perspective to help solve societal challenges, drive positive change, and prepare our students for success. 91亚色鈥檚 fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario鈥檚 Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education. 91亚色鈥檚 campuses in Costa Rica and India offer students exceptional transnational learning opportunities and innovative programs. Together, we can make things right for our communities, our planet, and our future.

Media Contacts: Emina Gamulin, 91亚色 Media Relations and External Communications, 437-217-6362, egamulin@yorku.ca

The post Life on MARS: 91亚色 U team heads North to look for clues to Martian mystery appeared first on News@91亚色.

Interdisciplinary investigation of the planet鈥檚 south pole points to clays being the likely culprit

TORONTO, July 29, 2021听鈥�听For years scientists have been debating what might lay under the Martian planet鈥檚 south polar cap after bright radar reflections were discovered and initially attributed to water. But now, a听new听study published in听,听led by planetary scientists from Lassonde School of Engineering at 91亚色, puts that theory to rest and demonstrates for the first time that another material is most likely the answer.

Research led by Isaac Smith, Canada Research Chair and听assistant professor of听Earth听and Space Science at Lassonde听School of Engineering and research scientist at the Planetary Science Institute, uses听multiple lines of evidence to show that听smectites, a common type of clay, can explain all of the observations,听putting the Mars lake theory on ice.

"Since being first reported as bodies of water, the scientific community has shown skepticism about the lake hypothesis and recent publications questioned if it was even possible to have liquid water," said Smith. Papers in 2018 and 2021 demonstrated that the amount of salt and heat听required听to thaw ice at the bottom of the polar cap was much more than Mars provides, and recent evidence showing these radar detections are much more widespread 鈥� to places even harder to thaw ice 鈥� put the idea further into question.

Mars South Polar Layered Deposits on top of Martian Smectites: The multi-kilometer thick south polar ice cap has a base that is composed, at least partially, of a common type of clays. These clays are found over nearly half of the planet's surface and now at the edges of the ice cap. Radar measurements of the clays from a lab led by Smith show that they can explain the bright reflections observed by MARSIS, a simpler explanation than bodies of liquid water.听Credits: ESA/DRL/FU Berlin (top), NASA (bottom).

The research team, which includes researchers from the University of Arizona, Cornell, Purdue and Tulane universities, used听experimental and听modelling听work to demonstrate that听smectites听can better explain the radar observations made听by the听MARSIS听instrument听aboard the European Space Agency鈥檚 Mars Express orbiter. Further, they found spectral evidence that听smectites听are present at the edges of the south polar cap.

鈥淪mectites听are very abundant on Mars, covering about half the planet, especially in the听Southern Hemisphere," said Smith. 鈥淭hat knowledge, along with the radar properties of听smectites听at cryogenic temperatures, points to them being the most likely explanation to the riddle."

Experiments done at 91亚色 measured the radar characteristics of hydrated听smectites听at room temperature and cryogenic temperatures. The radar characteristics in question are two numbers that represent the real and imaginary parts of the dielectric constant. Both numbers are important for fully characterizing a material, but the 2018 study used听modelling听that included only the real part of the dielectric value, leaving out certain classes of materials from being considered 鈥� namely clays.

Spectral color map from the CRISM instrument on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter draped over HiRISE imagery at the edge of the south polar ice cap. Specific colors from this map indicate the presence of smectite clays, an important discovery that helps to explain the MARSIS radar observations. Credit: NASA/JPL/UA.

Once the experimental measurements were completed, data was evaluated using code. It was in these simulations researchers听found that frozen clays have numbers big enough to make the reflections.

Smectites听are a class of clay that is formed when basalt (the volcanic rock that comprises most of Mars' surface) breaks down chemically in the presence of liquid water.

"Detecting possible clay minerals in and below the south polar ice cap is important because it tells us that the ice includes sediments that have interacted with water sometime in the past, either in the ice cap or before the ice was there,鈥� said Briony Horgan, co-author and associate professor in Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences at Purdue University. 鈥淪o, while our work shows that there may not be liquid听water and an associated habitable environment for life under the cap today, it does tell us about water that existed in this area in the past."

To support this new hypothesis,听Smith听conducted听experiments in his听lab听with equipment designed for measuring dielectric values. To simulate the conditions beneath Mars's south polar cap as best as possible, his team froze the clays to -50 C and measured them again, something that had never been done before.听Smith adds that the infrared absorptions attributable to these minerals are present in south polar orbital听visible-near听infrared reflectance spectra. Because these minerals are both present at the听south pole听and can cause the reflections, the team believes this to be a more viable scenario than the presence of liquid water. No salt or heat is听required.

鈥淲e used our听lab听measurements of clay minerals as the input for a radar reflection model and found that the results of the model matched very well with the real, observed data,鈥� said Dan听Lalich,听post-doctoral听researcher at the听Cornell Center for Astrophysics and Planetary Science听at Cornell University and second author on the study. 鈥淲hile it's disappointing that liquid water might not actually be present below the ice today, this is still a cool observation that might help us learn more about conditions on ancient Mars.鈥�

"We analyzed the听MARSIS听radar data and identified observations with high-power values at the base of the south polar layered deposits, both in the proposed lake region and elsewhere," said听Jenny Whitten, co-author and planetary scientist in the听Department of听Earth听and Environmental Sciences at Tulane University.

"The first reason the bright reflectors cannot be water is because some of them continue from underground onto the surface. If that is the case, then we should see springs, which we don't," said Stefano听Nerozzi,听post-doctoral听fellow in the听Lunar and Planetary Laboratory and Department of Geosciences at the University of Arizona and co-author.听"Not only that, but multiple reflectors are stacked on top of each other, and some are even found right in the middle of the polar cap. If this were water, this would be physically impossible."

Putting the results in perspective Smith says the answer is clear.

鈥淣ow, we have the trifecta. One, we measured dielectric properties of materials that are known to exist on over 50 per cent of Mars' surface and found them to have very high values. Two, we听modelled听how those numbers would respond in Mars' south-polar conditions and found them to match the radar observations well. Three, we demonstrated that these minerals are at the听south pole. Because the liquid water theory听required听incredible amounts of heat which is six-to-eight times more than Mars provides, and more salt than Mars has, it was听already听implausible. Now, the clays can explain the observations with absolutely no qualifiers or asterisks.鈥�

About 91亚色

91亚色听is a modern,听multi-campus, urban university located in Toronto, Ontario. Backed by a diverse group of students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners, we bring a uniquely global perspective to help solve societal challenges, drive positive change and prepare our students for success. 91亚色's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to听Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual听Postsecondary听Education. 91亚色鈥檚 campuses in Costa Rica and India offer students exceptional transnational learning听opportunities听and innovative programs. Together, we can make things right for our communities, our planet, and our future.

About Lassonde School of Engineering

Located in the heart of the multicultural Greater Toronto Area, the听听补迟听91亚色听ishome to engineers, scientists and entrepreneurs, representing a diverse community of students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners. With 11 undergraduate programs, seven graduate programs and a host of certificates and accessible study options, Lassonde is shaping the next generation of creators who will tackle the world鈥檚 biggest challenges and devise creative solutions through interdisciplinary learning opportunities. Lassonde鈥檚 creators think in big systems rather than small silos, design with people in mind and embrace ambiguity.

Media contact:听Kayla Lewis, 91亚色 Media Relations, cell 416-455-4710,听lewiskay@yorku.ca

The post Study: 91亚色 U planetary scientist puts Mars lake theory on ice with new study that offers听alternate听explanation appeared first on News@91亚色.

TORONTO, Feb. 8, 2021 鈥� NASA鈥檚 Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter are scheduled to land on the Red Planet on Feb. 18 and 91亚色鈥檚 Allan I. Carswell Observatory is hosting a landing party the same day.

Join the live online landing party via YouTube to watch the Perseverance landing, learn about Mars and hear a live discussion of what of Assistant Professor of the Faculty of Science calls the final 鈥渟even minutes of terror鈥�.

Assistant Professor Elaina Hyde

鈥淎fter all these months of traveling through space, the rover and its tiny helicopter companion are almost there,鈥� says Hyde. 鈥淚f you have ever wanted to join an extra-planetary landing party from the comfort of your own home make sure to catch this event. Together, we will see if the Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter safely make it to the surface.鈥�

The Ingenuity helicopter is attached to the belly of the Perseverance rover and weighs a mere four pounds. If all goes as planned, Ingenuity will be the first helicopter to try flying on a different planet.

Several Mars-bound rockets blasted off from the surface of Earth in 2020 and all are due to arrive this year. The United Arab Emirates' first Mars mission, an orbiter named Hope, will arrive on Feb 9. Then on Feb 10, the Tianwen-1, China's Red Planet orbiter and lander-rover pair will arrive. The orbiter will spend several months imaging the designated landing site to prepare for touchdown (expected May 2021). The observatory will celebrate all these achievements during the landing party.

Weather permitting, the observatory will also show live images from its new one-metre telescope.

WHEN: Thursday, Feb 18

TIME: 2:30 to 4 pm EST or until after the landing

WHERE:

Visit the observatory website for more details:

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91亚色听is a modern, multi-campus, urban university located in Toronto, Ontario. Backed by a diverse group of students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners, we bring a uniquely global perspective to help solve societal challenges, drive positive change and prepare our students for success. 91亚色's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education. 91亚色鈥檚 campuses in Costa Rica and India offer students exceptional transnational learning opportunities and innovative programs. Together, we can make things right for our communities, our planet, and our future.听

Media Contact:

Sandra McLean, 91亚色 Media Relations, 416-272-6317,听sandramc@yorku.ca

The post Allan I. Carswell Observatory hosts Perseverance landing party appeared first on News@91亚色.

TORONTO, August 20, 2019 鈥� A team of researchers led by scientists at 91亚色鈥檚 has created a model of how methane changes on Mars throughout the day by using data from a satellite, the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter and the Curiosity Rover. In the past, each had measured significantly different amounts of methane on Mars. The new measurements provide more clues that could help to understand what processes are important in creating the methane coming from a large 154 km- wide crater on the planet, .

The study published in today was led by 91亚色 Research Chair in Space Exploration and professor in the department of Earth and Space Science and Engineering at the Lassonde School of Engineering. Moores worked with a team of researchers in Canada, Australia, the United States and France and is part of NASA鈥檚 Mars Science Laboratory mission.

Methane is a key indicator of processes in the subsurface such as water-rock reactions, decomposition of clathrates or ancient accumulated meteoritic organics, and even current or past microbial activity. Scientists have been trying for more than a decade to determine what the source of methane on Mars could be, Moores says.

"Our study suggests that some of the differences between measurements of methane in the martian atmosphere could be the result of methane concentrations changing over the course of each day, if a small amount of methane continuously seeps from the subsurface." said Moores.

Researchers say that during the day,听this small amount of methane is rapidly mixed and diluted by vigorous convection, leading to low overall levels within the atmosphere, as measured by the Trace Gas Orbiter high in the atmosphere. During the night, this convection decreases, allowing methane to build up near the surface, leading to the relatively high levels detected by Curiosity 1m above the surface. At dawn, convection intensifies once again, and the near-surface methane is mixed and diluted with much more atmosphere.

Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

鈥淚t turns out that the fact that each spacecraft measures at a different time of the day and in different parts of the atmosphere are the keys to solving the apparent discrepancy.鈥� said Moores. Using this model and both constraints on methane, researchers were able 鈥� for the first time 鈥� to calculate a single number on the rate of seepage of methane at Gale crater which was equivalent to 2.8 kg per martian day.

Previous research suggested methane changed over the course of years and over the course of seasons. But even with this faster cycling, no more than 27,000 square km of the surface may be emitting methane at the rate that Gale does.

Future spacecraft measuring methane near the surface of Mars could determine how much methane seeps out of the ground in different locations, providing insight into what subsurface processes create that methane in the atmosphere.

91亚色 champions new ways of thinking that drive teaching and research excellence. Through cross-disciplinary programming, innovative course design, diverse experiential learning and a supportive community environment, our students receive the education they need to create big ideas that make an impact on the world. Located in Toronto, 91亚色 is the third largest university in Canada, with a strong community of 53,000 students, 7,000 faculty and administrative staff, and more than 300,000 alumni. 91亚色 U's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education.

Media Contact:听听Anjum Nayyar, 91亚色 Media Relations, 416 736 2100 ext. 44543 or 听anayyar@yorku.ca

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Curiosity Rover鈥檚 measurements hint at subsurface reservoirs of methane on Mars and a strong interaction with surface materials

TORONTO, March 8, 2019听鈥撎鼳 new study led by Professor , an associate professor in the Department of Earth and Space Science and Engineering at 91亚色 has found evidence of a link between the surface rocks and the methane in the atmosphere detected by the Curiosity rover on Mars. Researchers say it is this process that is controlling how much methane is released into the atmosphere above Gale Crater, the landing site of the Curiosity rover.

Previous research has shown that the amount of methane varies from season to season at this location on Mars. There is more methane in the atmosphere when it is warmer and less when it is cooler. However, Moores says until now, there has been no convincing explanation for how the seasonal cycle in methane seen by Curiosity came about. This new research provides a plausible mechanism for producing this effect and calculates how much methane needs to be involved. These results are consistent with other analyses of the behaviour of methane on Mars.

In the study, researchers developed a computer model of the movement of methane through the subsurface and compared how much methane found its way into the atmosphere to the amount measured by the Curiosity Rover鈥檚 SAM-TLS instrument. The team then adjusted the enthalpy of adsorption, a measure of how sticky methane is on regolith (rock in the soil)听until they produced a match.

This allowed his team and collaborators from the University of Colorado, Boulder; the University of Michigan; Universit茅 Paul Sabbatier; NASA-Goddard; Aeolis Research; and NASA-JPL, to estimate the amount of microseepage on Mars at Gale Crater. Gale Crater鈥檚 unique environment makes it easier to detect seeps. However, over most of Mars, the atmospheric mixing is stronger than at Gale Crater, and researchers believe the changes observed in the seasonal cycle will be harder to detect even for the same amount of seepage of methane in most other areas of Mars. NASA鈥檚听听landed in the Gale Crater on Mars in 2012 and was used to provide a snapshot of Mars鈥� surfaces over time.

鈥淭his study shows that the methane seen by the Curiosity Rover likely originates in the subsurface of Mars,鈥� says Moores. 鈥淲e are also able to explain a likely mechanism for producing the seasonal cycle in methane levels that the Curiosity rover has recorded on Mars."

"We expect these processes to operate on Mars because they certainly happen on the Earth, so it鈥檚 not surprising, we were surprised however, by how well everything matched up once we started to change how the soil and the methane interacted with one another.鈥�

This study was produced under the collaboration with the Curiosity Rover Science and Operations team at NASA. J.E.M and C.L.S knowledge funding for the study was provided by the Canadian Space Agency鈥檚 Mars Science Laboratory Participating Scientist Program. The study is published in the most recent issue of .

91亚色 champions new ways of thinking that drive teaching and research excellence. Our students receive the education they need to create big ideas that make an impact on the world. Meaningful and sometimes unexpected careers result from cross-disciplinary programming, innovative course design and diverse experiential learning opportunities. 91亚色 students and graduates push limits, achieve goals and find solutions to the world鈥檚 most pressing social challenges, empowered by a strong community that opens minds. 91亚色 U is an internationally recognized research university 鈥� our 11 faculties and 25 research centres have partnerships with 200+ leading universities worldwide. Located in Toronto, 91亚色 is the third largest university in Canada, with a strong community of 53,000 students, 7,000 faculty and administrative staff, and more than 300,000 alumni.
91亚色 U's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education.

Media Contact:听Anjum Nayyar, 91亚色 Media Relations, 416-736-2100 ext. 44543,听anayyar@yorku.ca

The post New research led by 91亚色 U planetary scientist provides clues on methane鈥檚 interaction with surface of Mars appeared first on News@91亚色.

Scientists from Lassonde School of Engineering鈥檚 Planetary Volatiles Laboratory at 91亚色 will be hosting the simulation and talks at the Ontario Science Centre.

TORONTO, Wednesday, July 25, 2018 鈥� As Mars moves the closest to Earth it has been in 15 years, the Lassonde School of Engineering鈥檚 Planetary Volatiles Laboratory at 91亚色 will host a Rover Exploration Challenge July 28 and 29 at the Ontario Science Centre.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a chance for people ages 8 and up to experience what it鈥檚 like to be a space scientist or engineer,鈥� said Lassonde Assistant Professor John Moores.

Participants will work as a team to remotely operate an analogue rover in a simulated mission, exploring a mystery planet using instruments similar to what is used on rover missions to Mars.

There will also be two talks by scientists from the Planetary Volatiles Laboratory on the history of exploration and latest discoveries on the red planet.

WHAT: A Rover Exploration Challenge

WHO: Assistant Professor of space engineering John Moores (12:30pm) and Post-doctoral Fellow Christina Smith (1:30pm) will give talks on about the robotic missions to Mars and the latest research and discoveries on the red planet.

WHEN: Saturday, July 28 and Sunday, July 29

WHERE: Ontario Science Centre, 770 Don Mills Road (at the corner of Eglinton Avenue East), Toronto

For more information:

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About 91亚色
is known for championing new ways of thinking that drive teaching and research excellence. Our students receive the education they need to create big ideas that make an impact on the world. Meaningful and sometimes unexpected careers result from cross-discipline programming, innovative course design and diverse experiential learning opportunities. 91亚色 students and graduates push limits, achieve goals and find solutions to the world鈥檚 most pressing social challenges, empowered by a strong community that opens minds. 91亚色 U is an internationally recognized research university 鈥� our 11 faculties and 26 research centres have partnerships with 200+ leading universities worldwide. Located in Toronto, 91亚色 is the third largest university in Canada, with a strong community of 53,000 students, 7,000 faculty and administrative staff, and more than 300,000 alumni. 91亚色 U's fully bilingual Glendon campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education.听

Media Contact:

Sandra McLean, 91亚色 Media Relations, 416-736-2100 ext. 22097, sandramc@yorku.ca

The post Future space scientists can remotely operate analogue rover in simulated planetary mission appeared first on News@91亚色.