Grants and Contributions

This project aims to increase the technology readiness level (TRL) of the Search Coil Magnetometer (SCM) and of the high-energy particle microburst detector in order to qualify the use of both instruments on future spacecraft. The second goal is to foster the creation of highly qualified Canadian personnel by providing an end-to-end space-like mission for students to acquire hands-on experience with space sector technologies. The key advantage of PEPPER-X to Canadians is the strengthening of Canada’s national position in the global space economy. This is achieved through the maturation of leading-edge instrumentation, which has a clear path to future collaboration on international partnership projects, and through the incubation of new talent in a robust academic setting.

The main objective of the project is to investigate metal-fuel combustion using a microgravity platform on board of the Falcon-20 parabolic aircraft, where the effects of particle settling, and natural convection are suppressed. Through this microgravity research, critical understanding on metal flame combustion can be achieved by investigating its propagation limit, and the understanding is improved with complementary ground-based research that examine additional parameters, such as burning velocity, flame temperature, and combustion products. In the present project, it is expected that new unique characteristics of metal combustion will be discovered through examining a wide range of fuel concentrations in at least two different particle size distributions. Metal-fuel combustion technologies are also essential in transition to a carbon-free society in Canada through using metal powders as sustainable carbon-free energy carriers.

This project will leverage Canadian expertise to develop new methods to identify and characterize novel loud gravitational-wave transients and mitigate LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) mission detector glitches. Canadian researchers will integrate these new methods into an existing “global fit” of many simultaneous expected LISA sources, allowing researchers from around the world to clearly observe the physical signatures of LISA sources. This project will enable Canadian researchers to take a leading role in LISA’s new view of the Universe. The Canadian public will gain a series of public resources to engage students and the general public in this exciting science.

This project seeks to advance bioprinting technology for space applications, focusing on wound healing in microgravity. This dual-purpose initiative aims to improve astronauts' health while providing immediate treatment for severe burns. The main objectives include experimental analysis of bio printed skin in a developed microgravity simulator, utilizing computational modeling to simulate multilayer skin properties, and integrating AI-driven topology optimization algorithms in bioprinting for enhanced precision. Building upon existing knowledge in space tissue bioprinting, the project pioneers immediate medical applications in microgravity.

The goal of this project is to better constrain the formation of clay minerals on Mars through Mars analogue missions deployed at three clay-bearing terrestrial field sites with two comparable EMRF (ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover mission) instruments. This project aims to provide insights into further development and validation of these instruments and train the next generation of planetary explorers. The objectives of this work are to provide additional inputs into the design and validation of the instrument “Enfys” – the newly funded spectrometer replacing the former Russian ISEM instrument, to develop mission procedures and protocols tailored for identifying and characterizing clays with Enfys with PanCam (Panoramic Camera), and to determine if the mineral/spectral characteristics of clays collected from different geologic settings are sufficiently distinct to differentiate between different clay-formation scenarios. The analogue missions will be executed at three field sites: one meteorite impact, a volcanic site and one surface weathering site.

CANGrow is a novel modular polyculture indoor food production system that will enable long term space exploration. The CANGrow system incorporates novel technologies in order to offer the widest possible variety of foods with optimal yield. It grows a diversity of biologically efficient food products: strawberries, cherry tomatoes, two root vegetables, microgreens, four unique culinary herbs, mini-head lettuce, an algae superfood, and a mycelial meat substitute - “space bacon”. The technology has the potential to provide over 500kg of nutrient dense food annually.

In March 2023, a neutron star (a dense stellar corpse) brightened by a factor of 10,000 in the X-rays, as it consumed material torn from a small companion star. This neutron star is located in the globular cluster Terzan 5, a cluster of about a million old stars that is rich in neutron stars. AstroSat observed the X-rays from this neutron star with its three X-ray instruments. We will study the AstroSat data, along with data from other X-ray instruments, to search for pulsations at the neutron star spin period; to look for evidence of gas blocking our view of the neutron star; and to study light reflected from the material falling onto the neutron star. We hope to infer the spin of the neutron star, the orbital period of the neutron star and its companion star, and how the infalling material falls onto the neutron star. This study can help us understand the physics of neutron stars, and of how they suck mass from companion stars and consume it.

This project will map out the ultraviolet colors of several nearby galaxies that are actively forming stars. AstroSat is observing the starlight of young, massive stars. As these short-lived stars die, the color of the galaxy changes, with the light becoming dominated by long-wavelength ultraviolet light. But there is a complication: dust in galaxies also makes the light appear redder. The new high-resolution data will be used to untangle the effects of aging from dust. This research is important because it is a local calibration needed to understand how to interpret the colors from different telescopes of the most distant galaxies.

Accretion onto black holes is the source of some of the most energetic photons observed in the Universe. The innermost region of the black hole accretion disk radiates mostly in X-rays for both stellar and supermassive mass black holes. This project will capitalize Canada’s participation in ASTROSAT by using the unparalleled simultaneous broadband X-ray data to probe the debated inner accretion dynamics of black holes across the mass range. The investigation lines up with one of Canada’s Long Range Plan main science themes (“What are the extreme conditions of the Universe?”) and with the Canadian priorities in High-Energy Astrophysics.

The project will analyze data from the most recent Astrosat X-ray and ultraviolet observatory programs on M31 and Hercules X-1. M31 (Andromeda) is the nearest large neighboring galaxy to our own Milky Way galaxy. It presents astronomers with an ideal viewpoint of a galaxy, in contrast to our galaxy which is mostly obscured by dust. We will measure the hot stars in M31 to learn about the formation and structure of that galaxy. Hercules X-1 is a normal star in orbit with a neutron star that emits X-rays and ultraviolet light as it funnels matter from the normal star. The study will measure the matter flows from star to neutron star, and how the matter emits X-rays and ultraviolet light.