University of New Brunswick

Published purpose

The Research component of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) Class Grant and Contribution Program to support Research, Awareness and Learning in Space Science and Technology provides financial support to organizations to conduct space related research and development in priority areas. It will support targeted knowledge development and innovation to sustain and enhance the Canadian capacity to use space to address national needs and priorities in the future. More specifically, this project entitled "" Martian geology exploration support for MSL and the APXS instrument : Value-added science from technology will involve thorough literature reviews of existing research articles and the examination of existing imagery and spectral databases, as well as incorporating new MSL APXS and related datasets as they become available. An improved comprehension of the above will directly benefit the MSL mission and, more specifically, the deployment of the Canadian-built APXS instrument and interpretation of the results from this important technology. An increased knowledge of these areas of research will add to our understanding of Mars in general, and better position Canada to address future Mars exploration initiatives via the development of science-enabling technologies and instrumentation.