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Maple leaf in the news

As it teams up with NASA for the Phoenix mission to Mars, Canada turns over a new leaf – a maple leaf, that is. Phoenix marks the first time a Canadian science instrument is part of an international mission to land on the surface of another world.

As Phoenix throttled down to the barren, windswept edge of Mars' north polar cap, Canadian scientists will study Mars' weather and climate.

The Phoenix spacecraft and the Canadian components: the lidar and the MET mast thermometers.

Phoenix comes after successful missions like the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and the twin NASA rovers currently touring the equatorial region of the Red Planet. But Phoenix has landed in a region where no spacecraft has ever been – the frigid far north of Mars.

Conditions are extremely harsh in the Martian arctic – even by Canadian standards! So mission engineers and scientists used their experience with arctic conditions here on Earth and their unique northern science and technology heritage to design instruments that would withstand these challenges.

The Canadian Lidar instrument in operation.
(Image: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, University of Arizona)

MET Science Goals

The MET station provides a window on Martian weather from an arctic perspective. Our current knowledge of Martian weather patterns and processes are based on observations as well as data from earlier missions. The MET station on Phoenix has two parts:

• The meteorology mast

• The lidar instrument

An unprecedented combination of continuous weather-related measurements will help researchers evaluate conditions on Mars today, and could unravel the mysteries of the planet's climate history, like:

• Do southbound winds carry more humidity than northbound winds?

• Are drops in air pressure associated with increased dust?

• How much does the water vapour in the lower atmosphere change between late spring and mid-summer?