Grant: Engage Grants Program

Prospecting in space allows us to assess the mineral potential of other worlds, including small ones that comenear us, like asteroids. These asteroids may not only be proverbial ""gold mines"", but can also be hazardous,increasing our need to know what they are made of so we can better assess hazard from them.As on Earth, surveys or sample testing to determine magnetic fields can tell us a lot about a potential spacemine site or ore sample. Other useful things can also be determined from magnetic fields, such as the presenceof underground lava tubes on Mars where we could find pre-built habitable spaces. Our collaboration betweenleading Canadian geophysical and space company Gedex and innovators in magnetic sensing at AthabascaUniversity will determine techniques for doing magnetic surveys on other worlds, and how to measure themagnetism of small samples.Adding this important part of the geophysicist toolkit to our mission capabilities will enable Canada toparticipate in the exciting exploration of our neighborhood of the Solar System, both looking for resources inspace, and better understanding the hazard from metallic asteroids that could penetrate our protectingatmosphere.