On July 31, Nasa announced the seven instruments that will be included in its next Mars rover, to be launched in 2020. One of the instruments, the Radar Imager for Mars’ Subsurface Exploration (RIMFAX) will conduct shallow profiling of the geological structure of Martian subsurface as the rover drives along the surface.
Canadian earth scientist Rebecca Ghent is one of the investigators involved with RIMFAX. She will be measuring the electrical properties of materials that represent analogs of those that will be found on Mars so that the scientists can interpret the radar’s results. After the launch, she will be involved in science planning for the investigation, data processing and scientific analysis as well as geological interpretation of the radar data.
