CSA funds five Mars mission project proposals

The Canadian Space Agency is providing more than $1 million to fund the development of five proposals for scientific missions to Mars. The proposals will receive a maximum of $250,000 each which will be further evaluated before making decisions on additional funding. The five proposals include: a radar satellite to study the geology of Mars from MDA Corp, Richmond BC; a landed rover to search for water erosion and subsurface water sites from MPB Communications, Montreal; an orbiter to study composition and climate of the Martian atmosphere from a team led by Dalhousie Univ; a low-cost nanosatellite to map Mars' remnant magnetic field from a Univ of Toronto-led team; and, a mission concept to explore Phobos (one of Mars' two moons) from Optech Inc, Toronto. FMI: www.space.gc.ca....