Northern Light

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Northern Light on Mars.

Northern Light was a planned Canadian unmanned Mars mission. Several Canadian universities, private research institutions and companies were involved in the project, but not the state space agency CSA . The main executing company should be Thoth Technology , headquartered in Kettleby . The planned start of the mission was in 2012.

history

The project was officially launched in 2001 by Ben Quine from York University in Toronto . York University had made a decisive contribution to the Canadian space program and developed and manufactured many scientific instruments and assemblies. Several other universities joined this project: Alberta, Toronto, Waterloo, Winnipeg, Western Ontario, Saskatchewan, Calgary, New Brunswick, McGill University and Simon Fraser University . The control center for the time after landing on Mars should be set up at the University of York.

Other companies were involved in the project: Magellan Aerospace , ENNIX Technology, EADS Astrium , SPECTRAL applied research, MDA Space Missions ; CATA Alliance; Sensor & Software Inc, COM DEV International .

Mission objectives

  • Search for life on Mars
  • Search for water
  • Measurement of electromagnetic exposure and analysis of the constituents of the atmosphere
  • Preparation and exploration for a manned Mars mission

construction

The probe should consist of four parts:

  • From an engine, which brings the probe into a correct orbit around Mars and also ensures the exact entry into the Martian atmosphere.
  • A heat shield should ensure that the probe does not burn up when it enters the Martian atmosphere.
  • The probe should be slowed down with the help of parachutes and protected from landing too quickly with an airbag system.
  • The actual landing unit should consist of the probe itself and a rover , which should weigh approx. 6 kg and have a maximum range of approx. 1 km around the landing site.

Northern Light Lander

The lander should carry various scientific instruments that should be developed and manufactured at the universities and companies of the consortium.

Environmental sensors were used to measure and record data from the landing area: UV radiation, air pressure, temperature, dust density, wind speed and ground vibrations. Some of these instruments were developed for Beagle 2 , the lander of ESA 's Mars Express probe in Great Britain.

It was planned that the Aurora spectrometer would work in a wavelength range from 625 nm to 2500 nm and cover the whole sky. The instrument should analyze the atmospheric composition of Mars. A second spectrometer called the Argus 4000 was supposed to analyze rock reflections.

The cameras on board the land would have had different focal lengths. Special filters should help identify different minerals on Mars. Furthermore, astronomical observations should also be carried out with this camera.

With the seismometer MASSur Seismic Sensor the soil conditions of Mars should be researched. To do this, an active vibration source and acceleration sensors should be used to determine the elastic and mechanical properties of the soil. Sedimentary rock , permafrost soil and water would have provided different values. For redundancy reasons, an identical device was planned on the rover.

The lander was to carry some DVDs with messages from Canadians in a hermetically sealed capsule.

rover

The rover, named Beaver, would have been necessary to investigate the geological conditions. Beaver should weigh about 6 kg and be relatively independent of the lander. Its radius of action was planned to be around 1 km. Just like the lander, the rover was to be equipped with a camera, spectrometer and seismometer.

In addition, Beaver should have a ground penetrating radar. Its 200 MHz signal could have penetrated up to 20 m in soft ground and up to 100 m in permafrost and ice. The radar device should share systems with the seismometer.

Beaver should also be equipped with a drill that can drill about 10 mm deep into rock. Together with the Aurora spectrometer and a microscope, this should enable a search for biological traces.

Ground station

The Algonquin Radio Observatory

The Algonquin Radio Observatory in Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario was selected for the project . After the launch of the probe, the telescope should go into operation and check the flight path and the systems. The telescope has a 46 m main reflector. The telescope was operated by Thoth Technology for various missions in 2010.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mission to Mars to be 100% Canadian. (No longer available online.) Ottawa Citizen, Aug 22, 2007, archived from the original on Nov 6, 2012 ; accessed on July 22, 2010 (English): "The Canadian Space Agency confirmed it knows of the project, but has no involvement in it."
  2. ↑ Algonquin Radio Observatory readied as ground station for Northern Light mission. Marketwire, July 27, 2009, accessed July 22, 2010 .

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