Grants and Contributions

The Rosalind Franklin Rover PanCam instrument suite will be capable of identifying geological materials important for past microbial life—hydrated minerals. As a Co-I on the PanCam instrument team, Dr. Christy Caudill will support the mission by producing a novel hydrated mineral identification strategy and predictive model that will cross-correlate rover-derived data with orbitally derived data. Key to this model is a PanCam instrument-specific mineral toolkit combined with rover exploration strategies.

This research addresses the highest priority Planetary Geology and Geophysics, and Astrobiology objectives as defined by the Canadian planetary exploration community while supporting the science objectives of the ExoMars Rover mission.

This is a grant to support the study with AstroSat of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), NGC 205 and five other nearby galaxies by combining UVIT and Hubble Space Telescope observations. The grant will also support the study with AstroSat of the X-ray binary source Her X-1 and investigate the structure of its accretion disk.

This grant will fund a project dedicated to UVIT imaging of a sample of nearby galaxies with the goal of measuring radiative heating and study how the absorbed light can disrupt star formation and even slow down or halt galaxy evolution.

This grant will fund a study by UVIT aboard AstroSat of the ultraviolet light emitted by a sample of low surface brightness spiral galaxies, combined with data from other telescopes to understand the current and past properties of these enigmatic galaxies.

This low-cost and high-value demonstration of Mission Control’s Spacefarer software platform and a Virtual Reality Camera System will comprise Canada’s first ever commercial rover mission. In partnership with a US-based lunar transportation company, Mission Control will deploy a rover on the south pole of the Moon in 2024. The demonstration will investigate user experience in deep space robotic operations, and specifically how intuitive user displays, semi-autonomous driving modes enabled by artificial intelligence, and immersive reality lower the cognitive load, operator fatigue, and operator training needs while increasing mission success. Dozens of students and post-docs from four Canadian universities will operate the rover alongside Mission Control staff and youth from underserved communities. Following a successful demonstration Mission Control will be poised for further growth in international markets as Spacefarer is adapted for use on new missions.

This research aims to develop the Pitch REsolving Spectroscopy for Electron Transport (PRESET) CubeSat (small satellite). The PRESET project will develop cutting-edge technologies for space radiation detection, magnetometry, digital signal processing, satellite communications, and attitude determination and control which will have a significant impact on Canada’s space industry and economic growth. Data collected from PRESET CubeSat will help us better understand how electrons move in low-Earth orbit during geomagnetic storms and their impact on the upper atmosphere. The advanced radiation detection technology developed by PRESET can also be used by Canadian nuclear industries to accurately measure real-time radiation doses, particularly during maintenance periods of the Canada Deuterium Uranium (CANDU) nuclear power plants. This has been a challenging task due to the mixed radiation fields encountered in such situations. Additionally, the PRESET project will also contribute to training highly qualified Canadian personnel in space science, space engineering and radiation detection technology.

Killick-2 is a project proposed by Memorial University (MUN) for the Canadian Space Agency CUBICS initiative. The MUN team proposes a 3U CubeSat called Killick-2 containing a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) Reflectometry payload to measure ocean parameters from space. The applications proposed for Killick-2 are sea ice detection and concentration estimation and ocean dynamic parameters (wind and wave). The Killick-2 supervisory team will select a mission development team from the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, and will consist of lead researchers in postgraduate studies and an engineering team consisting of undergraduate electrical and mechanical engineering students. The postgraduate team will lead the GNSS-R payload development, while the undergraduate team will lead the satellite bus development. The undergraduate design team will be composed primarily junior and senior students. The Killick-2 project has significant benefits to Canada in the context of development of highly qualified personnel (HQPs) in space systems and earth observation. Furthermore, Killick-2 will gather a significant GNSS-R dataset that will be useful for the understanding the impacts of climate change.

Optimizing insect farming with an eye toward circular food production can both improve global food security and lead to new innovations for space travel. A primary goal of the project is to increase insect farm yield and to determine how to best manipulate diet content (Entomo-Alliance Project Objective 1) and environmental context (Entomo-Alliance Project Objective 2) to improve rearing facilities and practices and testing these findings at the cricket farm (Entomo-Alliance Project Objective 3). With support from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), additional personnel will be added to these ongoing projects to build a sustainable circular food system (CSA funded project Objective 1). Circular food systems and colony monitoring will be essential components of future deep space travel, and this project will help place Canadian industry and academics at the global forefront of discovery in deep space food production.

The main objective of this project is to enhance and expand the research into passive flow control elements development and deployment on glider wings for improved performance in terms of maximum altitude and stratospheric flight duration. The outcome of this work will enhance the performance and peak altitude of the new commercial glider platform at stratospheric elevations. This new technology offers an environmentally friendly, versatile, and cost-effective option for high-altitude Earth observation, satellite testing, and monitoring missions using autonomous aerial vehicles.

This project is an extension of the Silva21 Alliance project, which aims to provide tools and practical solutions to adapt forest management practices and improve both resistance to stressors and resilience to disturbance in Canadian forests. The project framework involves a series of three themes i.e. 'Observe', 'Anticipate', 'Adapt'. In ‘Observe’, space-based data is used to develop innovative forest monitoring approaches to assess forest disturbance, tree growth and forest vigour. This project provides a unique opportunity to combine key forestry needs for the Canadian industry with high-tech, space-based, solutions provided by the Canadian Space Agency to ensure that forestry in Canada remains a critical resource both for Gross Domestic Product as well as a natural climate solution to mitigate the impacts of climate change.