biology

Northern Light (spacecraft)

Northern Light (spacecraft) is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Northern Light (spacecraft) rather than just read about it. In short: Northern Light was a concept mission for a robotic mission to Mars that would consist of a lander and a rover, being studied by a consortium of Canadian universities, companies and organisations. The primary contractor for the spacecraft was Thoth Technology Inc.

Key takeaways

Northern Light (spacecraft) belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Northern Light (spacecraft) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Northern Light (spacecraft) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Northern Light was a concept mission for a robotic mission to Mars that would consist of a lander and a rover, being studied by a consortium of Canadian universities, companies and organisations. The primary contractor for the spacecraft was Thoth Technology Inc. The spacecraft would consist of four parts: an apogee kick engine to provide orbital injection for a cruise vehicle that carries the Northern Light lander and the Beaver Rover to a direct rendezvous with Mars using a Hohmann transfer orbit. Atmospheric entry would be achieved by a heat shield, parachute and airbag deployment system. The lander would transfer the rover to the Martian surface. Once deployed on the Martian surface, the lander contacts Earth directly to the 46 m parabolic antenna located at the Algonquin Radio Observatory. The Beaver Rover was proposed to have a maximum range of 1000 metres (0.62 mile) from the landing site. It would have operated under battery, utilizing tools and sensors to investigate surface rocks that may contain the presence of photosynthetic life.

History The project officially started in 2001, and its project leader was Ben Quine, from York University, Canada. York University has participated in the Canadian Space Program and has designed several space research instruments and applications currently used by NASA, including the meteorological station on board the Phoenix Mars lander. Partners in this Mars project were York University, University of Alberta, University of Toronto, University of Waterloo, University of Winnipeg, University of Western Ontario, University of Saskatchewan, University of New Brunswick, McGill University and Simon Fraser University. The mission control for the period after it lands on Mars, would have been headquartered at York University. The cost was estimated at $20 million, or possibly less if another country shares the rocket. The Canadian Space Agency confirmed it knows of the project, but has no involvement in it. In 2014, a crowd sourcing campaign to support the mission was launched on Indiegogo and YouTube in order to raise $1.1 million Canadian dollars for development of the flight hardware, but the drive raised only $10,012.

Scientific goals There are four primary goals for the mission:

Search for life on Mars Search for water on Mars Investigate Martian electromagnetic radiation environment and atmospheric properties Prepare for the international effort of a Mars sample return mission and a human mission to Mars

Payload of the Beaver Rover The rover system was required for geological surface exploration and for subsurface imaging. With a mass of approximately 6 kg (13.2 lb), the rover would operate under its own power and have a range of roughly 1 km (0.62 mi). The rover would be equipped with a visible camera for manoeuvering and surface exploration, as well as a Point Spectrometer and microscope camera for geological survey. A ground-penetrating radar would explore the Martian subsurface and look for water; an active vibrator and receiver would use short, sub-millisecond pulses to conduct an acoustic study of the subsurface. For immediate subsurface exploration, the rover would be equipped with a rock grinding tool.

MASSur Seismic Sensor The MASSur Seismic Sensor, developed by the University of Calgary would have provided depth profiles of the Martian surface. Specifically, a seismometer would conduct tests to determine the rigidity and elasticity of the Martian topsoil as well as its rock properties. Sediments, permafrost, and water may all have distinct signatures. This seismic system would use a vibrational source and elastic-wave receivers (accelerometers) on both the lander and on the Beaver Rover. The redundancy of lander and rover apparatus, ensures that some primary science objectives can be met without rover deployment.

Ground Penetrating Radar The Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR) would have utilized a 200 MHz radar to provide fine-scale, sub-surface imaging to a depth of 20 m (65 ft) on loose aggregate and up to 100 m (328 ft) on permafrost or ice. The concept design shares several systems with the seismic instruments.

TC Corer The corer would be capable of drilling up to 10 mm into surface rocks. This tool would be used in conjunction with the Aurora spectrometer and microscope to examine the near-surface composition and to look for biosignatures of near-surface life. The core would have been contributed to the mission from Hong Kong. The flight model instrument has an estimated mass of 350 g.

Payload of the Northern Light Lander

Aurora Spectrometer The proposed spectrometer has a wavelength coverage of 625 nm to 2500 nm and observes the whole sky. The instrument would measure variations in spectral irradiance which can be utilized to determine aerosol and atmospheric composition including the concentration of carbon dioxide, the major constituent of the Martian atmosphere. It would also carry out angular dependency of radiation influx in the atmosphere. The Aurora instrument has a mass of 450 g.

Argus Spectrometer Similar in design to the Argus 1000 spectrometer flown on CanX-2, the radiometer would be the primary equipment of the Northern Light lander making measurements of spectral rock reflectance. The spectrometer has a mass of 240 g.

Camera systems The camera systems on the lander would have the capability of narrow and wide field surveys. The narrow field survey would have provided a very high resolution, panoramic view of the landing site. Colour filters would perform some spectral mapping and mineral identification of the surrounding soil; the camera would also perform limited atmospheric and astronomical observations. Colour images of Earth would have been obtained. The wide field survey would provide an overall colour view of the lander's surroundings to help rover deployment and route planning.

MASSur Seismic Sensors Similar specifications as those on the Beaver Rover.

Environmental sensors Environmental sensors would monitor environmental conditions at the landing site. Various instruments would have measured UV rays, oxidising substances, air pressure, air temperature, dust impact, wind velocity, and ground vibration. These sensors would have a combined mass of 130 g. Flight models were previously developed for Britain's Beagle 2 lander.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Northern Light (spacecraft)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Northern Light (spacecraft) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Northern Light (spacecraft) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Northern Light (spacecraft) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Northern Light (spacecraft)

In research: Northern Light (spacecraft) appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Northern Light (spacecraft) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Northern Light (spacecraft) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Cancelled Mars landers, Cancelled Mars rovers, Cancelled astrobiology space missions, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Northern Light (spacecraft) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Northern Light (spacecraft)” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Northern Light (spacecraft) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Northern Light (spacecraft) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Northern Light (spacecraft) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Northern Light (spacecraft) in simple terms?

Why does Northern Light (spacecraft) matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Northern Light (spacecraft)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Northern Light (spacecraft).