space research Archives | Research & Innovation

91��ɫ in the World: Researchers begin nine-day mission to India

fmaquito — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 10:00:00 +0000

A delegation of researchers from 91��ɫ's will begin a nine-day mission to India today to establish partnerships and collaborations with the country's researchers.

The group will visit seven top-tier universities and research institutes during their trip. Along the way they will stop at the India Institute of Technology's facilities in Mumbai (Bombay) and Madras, the University of Calcutta, the Indian Space Research Organization, the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research together with visits to other institutes and universities during the nation-wide trip

“Our faculty considers international partnerships as the key cornerstone supporting our strategic priorities. Partnerships like those with India stimulate the spirit of innovation with clear focus on research outcomes that have an international impact,” says Janusz Kozinski (right), dean of the Faculty of Science & Engineering at 91��ɫ and a member of the delegation to India.

The key mandate for the trip is to enable researchers from 91��ɫ and across India to establish joint bilateral research and development projects. Halfway through their trip, the 91��ɫ delegation will pause to participate in a two-day workshop co-sponsored by the International Science & Technology Partnerships Canada, Global Innovation & Technology Alliance, the Society for Applied Microwave Electronics Engineering & Research and India's Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO).

The workshop will bring together more than 100 participants from research institutes and universities from Canada and England, and will include researchers and university vice-chancellors from across India. Rajagopala Chidambaram, the principal scientific adviser to the government of India, and Vijay Kumar Saraswat, director-general of DRDO, the secretary of defence research and development and scientific adviser to Indian Defence Minister Raksha Mantri, are among the diginitaries participating in the workshop.

This workshop will give participants the opportunity to discuss advances and innovations in their respective areas of research, exchange information and ideas and create further opportunities to establish research collaborations. The gathering will be held at the DRDO building in New Dehli.

Travelling in the 91��ɫ Science & Engineering delegation are:

, professor, Department of Chemistry;
, professor, Department of Physics & Astronomy and associate dean of academic affairs in the Faculty of Graduate Studies;
, professor, Department of Earth & Space Science and Engineering;
, professor, Department of Computer Science & Engineering
, professor, Department of Languages, Literatures & Linguistics, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies
, professor, Department of Chemistry;
, professor, Department of Mathematics & Statistics;
Paulina Karwowska-Desaulniers, research officer, Faculty of Science & Engineering;
, dean, Faculty of Science & Engineering and professor, Department of Earth & Space Science and Engineering;
, professor, Department of Earth & Space Science and Engineering;
Brian Solheim, adjunct professor, Department of Earth & Space Science and Engineering;
, professor, Department of Biology.

For more information about the trip and the 91��ɫ Science & Engineering delegation, visit the website.

91��ɫ computer science Professor Andrew Eckford is also .

Republished courtesy of YFile – 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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Lab technologist brings little pieces of Mars to 91��ɫ, promotes space research

fmaquito — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 08:00:00 +0000

Nick Balaskas is on a mission. He wants to set a world record for the number of people who have walked on Mars.

Although technically he would need only one person to achieve his goal, Balaskas has set his sights on 500 – a round number he developed based on the total number of individuals who have flown in space since the start of manned space flights 50 years ago, plus a few more for good measure.

Right: Janusz Kozinski, dean of 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Science & Engineering, takes a ‘walk’ on a piece of the red planet

A laboratory technologist in the Faculty of Science & Engineering’s and a 91��ɫ physics grad who studies meteorites, Balaskas (BSc ’79) hit upon the idea when he became interested in a meteorite known as (photo, left © Royal Ontario Museum). This orthopyroxene-bearing nakhlite from Mars was found in the Sahara Desert and purchased by meteorite dealers in 2002. The dealers, Adam and Greg Hupe, have shared fragments of the meteorite for research while the main portion is now part of the Royal Ontario Museum’s collection.

Balaskas purchased a couple of tiny fragments from the Hupes and invited 91��ɫ students and friends of 91��ɫ, including a who’s who of distinguished Canadians, to become the first to “walk on Mars” for his world record attempt. Each person who joins Balaskas’ select group treads a careful step (barefoot or socks, their option), receives a certificate of achievement and will be listed among those who helped establish the record, which Balaskas eventually plans to submit to the publisher of the Guinness Book of World Records for official recognition.

91��ɫ President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri became the latest person to walk on Mars when Balaskas visited his office in the 91��ɫ Research Tower. Janusz Kozinski, dean of 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Science & Engineering, joined Shoukri in his Mars trek and said the record attempt was a good way of drawing attention to 91��ɫ’s space programs. Balaskas said his goal in starting the project was to raise awareness of 91��ɫ’s ever-increasing reputation as one of the leading space science universities in Canada where 91��ɫ students and members of the 91��ɫ community play a big part.

Left: From left, President Shoukri with Balaskas and Dean Kozinski

91��ɫ researchers achieved world recognition in 2008 when, as part of the Phoenix Mars Mission team led by Professor Jim Whiteway, they helped determine that, like the Earth, it even snows on Mars (see YFile, Oct. 1, 2008). A new team of researchers from 91��ɫ’s Department of Earth & Space Science & Engineering led by Professor Jack McConnell will take part in the , a partnership between the , the (CSA) and .

Whiteway is the director of the ; McConnell is also a member, as are many faculty involved in space research at 91��ɫ.

91��ɫ grad Steve MacLean (BSc ’73, PhD ’83, Hon. DSc ’93), a former Canadian astronaut who was appointed president of the Canadian Space Agency in 2008, is a member of a smaller and exclusive group of 91��ɫ space scientists who have walked on a different world and have certificates to prove it. Balaskas said he told Canadian astronaut Julie Payette, an honorary degree recipient at this year’s 91��ɫ Spring convocation, that her colleague McLean had done something she hadn’t done – walked on the moon! McLean was presented with a certificate and a fragment of NWA 482, a meteorite that originated from the Lunar Highlands that is geologically identical to the Genesis Rock brought back from the Moon by the Apollo 15 astronauts.

Left: A fragment of NWA 998, a meteor from Mars

But his project is more than just a promotional gimmick, says Balaskas, who during the day oversees the Faculty’s undergraduate physics labs. He and Sal Boccia, an engineering technologist in the metallurgy lab at the University of Toronto, have examined samples of NWA 998 under an electron microscope and found things they feel are worth further study, which they plan to pursue.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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North 91��ɫ Mirror covers 91��ɫ's involvement in 2016 Mars mission to search for life

fmaquito — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 08:00:00 +0000

91��ɫ researchers will take part in a mission probing Mars’ atmosphere for methane sources in an effort to find evidence of life on the planet, :

Researchers from the Faculty of Science & Engineering will be part of a team of Canadian scientists responsible for a device that will measure and diagnose components of Mars’ atmosphere.

The instrument, dubbed MATMOS (Mars Atmospheric Trace Molecule Occultation Spectrometer) is a partnership between the , the (CSA) and .

According to the University, the instrument, which has yet to be built, will ride aboard the ExoMars Trace Orbiter, a joint mission by NASA and the European Space Agency, slated to launch in 2016.

91��ɫ scientists will engage in atmospheric modelling and analysis, constructing a weather and chemical forecast of Mars that will help analyze the MATMOS composition data to assess the sources of various component gases. Methane was discovered on Mars in 2003 in greater abundance than expected; because the gas is readily produced by biological activity, it is considered a key biomarker for signs of life.

“You can say in some respect [that] Mars can host life, but can it host life now?” asked , professor of atmospheric science at 91��ɫ. “Mars has a bit of an ozone layer but it’s thin. Mars could have looked differently millions of years ago.”

McConnell, along with colleagues Professor and researcher Jacek Kaminski, will also lend expertise on the SOIR-NOMAD (Solar Occultation in the InfraRed – Nadir and Occultation for Mars Discovery), another instrument set to board the ExoMars Trace Orbiter.

As for the fascination surrounding the red planet, McConnell said it’s Earth’s nearest neighbour likely to have any evidence of life. “Venus isn’t likely, Mercury doesn’t have an atmosphere and Jupiter has no surface to speak of,” he said. “Mars is the thing nearest to us that can most likely harbour life. That’s what intrigues people.”

The .

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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Paul Delaney on Canadian aerospace industry's future growth in age of privatized space travel

fmaquito — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 08:00:00 +0000

A controversial decision by Barack Obama to privatize the exploration of space could be a blessing for Canada’s aerospace industry, say experts in the field, who argue that this country’s space agency and its associated industries are in a prime position to hitch their wagon to the US president’s initiative on a ride toward the stars, Mars and potential riches, :

“Obama’s vision for the future of NASA…is putting a lot of stock in the private sector,” says Paul Delaney, a professor of physics & astronomy in 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Science & Engineering. “There have been a lot of groups that have been trying to position themselves to take advantage of what they see as a commercial opportunity in the coming decade. And I think they are right.”

Delaney says Obama’s vision is clear on what the next generation of space exploration vehicle should do: study near-Earth asteroids – and their potential wealth of resources – and get ready to go to Mars.

If industry can deliver on the “low-Earth orbit” side of space exploration, he says, such as the “taxi” activity of restocking the International Space Station, NASA will be free to pursue larger goals “of getting away from Earth entirely.”

But Canada ultimately stands to profit, Delaney says, pointing to our track record in robotics and space technology, which will be needed as the groundwork is laid for future travel. “There’s a good history here as far as developing space hardware, instrumentation,” he says. “I think you’re going to see stepped-up activity from Canadian industry to contribute in a more significant way.”

91��ɫ has considerable space research capacity through the (CRESS) and the . Recently, one of , funded by and the (CSA).

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, with files courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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Video: Paul Delaney speaks to CTV about the current mission and end of the U.S. space shuttle era

fmaquito — Tue, 18 May 2010 08:00:00 +0000

, senior lecturer and director of the Division of Natural Science in the , spoke to CTV News May 14 about the space shuttle's current mission to the international space station. Crews are conducting space walks, loading equipment and bringing back experiments that have been running on the space station's 'porch' -- an outside laboratory in the vacuum of space.

The video is available on .

To view the schedule for NASA's , visit their site.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer.

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91��ɫ scientists monitoring pollution from space win aeronautics award

fmaquito — Thu, 06 May 2010 08:00:00 +0000

91��ɫ researchers who designed and built a miniature space-borne pollution monitor are part of a team of Canadians being honoured with a 2010 Alouette Award from the Canadian Aeronautics & Space Institute (CASI).

The annual prize, one of the top accolades for the advancement of space technology in Canada, was awarded Tuesday to the CanX-2 microsatellite team, headed by the University of Toronto. 91��ɫ’s instrument, a microspectrometer dubbed Argus, is currently riding aboard the microsatellite, which launched in April 2008. Argus can accurately detect sources of industrial pollution on Earth, to a resolution of one kilometre.

"We’re very excited to be part of the team receiving this award," said Argus principal investigator Brendan Quine, a professor in 91��ɫ’s Department of Earth & Space Science & Engineering. "Argus was a Canadian first and we’re delighted we could make it happen at 91��ɫ."

Right: Brendan Quine with the Alouette Award

The device, which is small enough to fit in the palm of an adult’s hand, transmits data via infrared radiation emitted to space. It enables scientists to determine local levels of carbon dioxide and other climate change gases by recording infrared spectra, which contain information about atmospheric composition.

Developed in partnership with Thoth Technology Inc., it is the first space instrument to be built and tested in 91��ɫ’s space engineering laboratory, part of the University’s Centre for Research in Earth & Space Science (CRESS). Argus’ current mandate includes monitoring levels of ash from recent volcanic eruptions in Iceland.

CASI introduced the Alouette Award in 1995 to recognize an outstanding contribution to the advancement of Canadian space technology, science or engineering. It may be awarded to an individual, a group, an organization or group of organizations, as appropriate to the nature of the contribution. Preference is given to contributions that lead to new benefits for mankind.

The team's win was also covered in the North 91��ɫ Mirror May 12:

91��ɫ researchers who designed and built a miniature space-borne pollution monitor are part of a team of Canadians who were honoured with a 2010 Alouette Award from the Canadian Aeronautics & Space Institute (CASI).

The annual prize, one of the top accolades for the advancement of space technology in Canada, was awarded May 4 to the CanX-2 microsatellite team, headed by the University of Toronto.

91��ɫ’s instrument, a microspectrometer dubbed Argus, is currently riding aboard the microsatellite, which launched in April 2008. Argus can accurately detect sources of industrial pollution on Earth, to a resolution of one kilometre.

“We’re very excited to be a part of the team receiving this award,” Brendan Quine, Argus Principal investigator and professor in 91��ɫ’s Department of Earth & Space Science & Engineering, said in a release. “Argus is a Canadian first and we’re delighted we could make it happen at 91��ɫ.”

For more information, visit the Web site.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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