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| Tuesday-Wednesday / 4-5 July 2006 | ||
Canada Becoming
Premier Site for Planetary Analogs.
"If you've got to pick one place in
the solar system that might contain life, it would be Europa," The
Planetary Society (TPS) scientist Bruce Betts tells Ottawa
Sun.com. High on
a glacier in the furthest reaches of the Arctic, a Canada-led expedition,
in part funded by TPS, is hoping the sulphur springs of Borup Fiord
Pass at Ellesmere Island will hint how life may have developed on
that moon of Jupiter. The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) recently drew
up a list of 12 sites from coast to coast that make good planetary
analogs, and has budgeted about US$719K (CA$800K) a year on the Canadian
Analog Research Network that supports scientists wanting to study
the sites. "Most countries do have some aspects of analog work
going on," says Alain Berinstain, CSA Director of Planetary
Exploration and Space Astronomy. "What is unique to Canada is
the way we've recognized it and the way we've set up the logistics
for our community," he
adds. Other Canada sites that have a hint of the extraterrestrial
include: Axel Heiberg Island, Nunavut (Mars liquid water analogs);
Pavillion Lake, British Columbia (analogs of possible past life on
Mars); Haughton Crater, Nunavut (another Mars past life analog);
Inuvik
and Tuktoyaktuk,
Northwest Territories (Mars climate change analog); Kidd Creek
Mine near Timmins, Ontario (Mars life analog); Dawson Bay, Lake Winnepegosis,
Manitoba
(Mars
geological
analog); Eureka Sound Lowlands, Nunavut (extremophiles analog); southern
British Columbia (Mars and Jupiter minerals analog); and Mistastin
Lake, Newfoundland and Labrador (Moon and Mercury craters analog).
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