Through the eyes of Peter A. Taylor, from York University's Centre for Research in Earth and Space Science, about three dozen people gathered in the Noel Ryan Auditorium to hear how Canadians contributed to the Phoenix Lander and the 2007 NASA Scout mission to Mars.
The lecture is part of the Royal Canadian Institute's (RCI) lecture series that brings Canada's top scientists to the public to talk about their work.
Taylor, who has worked on numerical modelling, wind tunnel and field experiments shared stories, pictures and revealed detail and insight on the exploration. He also fielded questions from the curious attendees.
"It's very much an international mission, but Canada is playing a significant role and that significant role ... relates primarily to atmospheric studies," said Taylor about the Canadian scientific team based at York. "In a sense, we have a meteorological station on Mars."
Taylor explained the team was responsible for design and operation of the meteorological package during the Phoenix mission that included a device called a lidar. Using infrared laser light instead of radio waves, the device is capable of detecting particles and varying physical conditions in the atmosphere that Taylor said was essential to the two main objectives of the mission: to study the history of water in the Martian arctic and search for evidence of a habitable area and assess the biological potential of the ice-soil boundary.
Showing images of the terrain, Taylor said, "The terrain is very flat and boring, no vegetation and no animals running around."
Taylor also revealed that part of the Canadian team that includes lead scientist for the meteorological station on Phoenix, Jim Whiteway, recently detected snow falling from the Martian clouds.
"The images from the last couple of weeks show evaporating trails coming up from underneath the clouds," said Taylor, about the much cooler planet that ranges from minus 30 to minus 80 degrees celsius. "Snow is coming down from the sky and then evaporating because the atmosphere is so dry."
Nobby Miura, who came from Etobicoke to attend the lecture because of a strong interest in astronomy and geophysics, said he thought the lecture was very informative.
"It's nice to hear from the person who is involved in it," said the nuclear engineer and RCI member. "It's different from reading a newspaper. The guy is standing there talking to me and I love it."
RCI, which is Canada's oldest scientific society, continues the lecture series at Noel Ryan Auditorium Nov. 6. The lecture, Watching Brains Think: Brain Imaging, Face Recognition & Deception, will have York University Professor Hugh R. Wilson speak about brain imaging and how it works. For more information, visit www.royalcanadianinstitute.org.
jle@mississauga.net
