HMP Research Station Status Report for July 9, 2008
A week after the initial Mars Institute advanced team arrived to setup the research station for this years field season operations are running smoothly. The weather so far has been great and the first researchers are conducting their work.
Currently researchers from the Canadian Space Agency and the University of Florida are working in the Mars Institute's Arthur Clarke Mars Greenhouse. As well, researchers from McGill University and the University of Toronto under the umbrella of the Canadian Space Agency Canadian Analog Research Network (CARN) are set to begin work.
McGill University principal investigator Tim Haltigin and his team will be doing an assessment of ground ice conditions in polar desert polygonal terrain using electromagnetic geophysical methods.
University of Toronto principal investigator Tim Barfoot will be doing a preliminary scientific exploration of the polar desert which will eventually see his team use a rover equipped with ground-penetrating radar, stereo camera, and long-range lidar.
Additionally Dr. Jean-Marc Comtois, Head, Operational Space Medicine of the Canadian Space Agency has setup the medical tent for the field season and to conduct research.
The next research group scheduled to arrive on Thursday, July 11 is from the University of Western Ontario led by principal investigator Gordon 'Oz' Osinski.
