Speaker's Night: Mars: Are we nearly there yet?

Dr. Brendan (Ben) Quine, York University

This talk will survey what we know about the red planet currently and describe the exploration activities that are planned. Current international endeavors will be examined. Canadian activities including the Northern Light mission will be highlighted. If and when humans might visit the planet will be discussed.

Brendan Quine maintains a keen interest in spacecraft, space structures and mechatronic instrumentation. He has been involved with numerous space projects providing a wide range of  expertise from the design of complete subsystems to the test and certification of third party space equipment.

In collaboration with Thoth Technology Inc. he is currently developing a mission to Mars called Northern Light which will explore new regions of the planet. As part of this mission he recently spent his sabbatical year establishing the mission's ground station at the Algonquin Radio Observatory. Brendan is a member of the York University Argus team that is currently operating a pollution monitoring spectrometer in low Earth orbit on the CanX-2 spacecraft. This technology was awarded the Canadian Astronautics and Space Institute Alouette award in 2010. Brendan is the inventor of a novel space elevator construction technology which has attracted world-wide interest.

He, his collaborators and his graduate team are exploring the application of space and related technologies to research themes that include astronomy, climate change, exploration and navigation.

Who can attend: everyone including non-members
Fee: free, free parking after 6pm
Reservation not needed
Location: Ontario Science Centre (Imperial Oil Auditorium)