Canadian University Press Releases/Newswire

Source: York University
http://www.yorku.ca/mediar/archive/Release.asp?Release=1142

York U launches major new space test facility

October 11, 2006

TORONTO,
October 11, 2006 -- York University’s Centre for Research in Earth and Space
Science (CRESS) today launched its new space test facility with a lab tour,
including a demo of a machine that can simulate the vibrations of a rocket
launch.

Professor Ben Quine of the Department of Earth and Space Science and
Engineering demonstrated the lab’s thermal-vacuum and vibration modules,
which are unique among Canadian universities. The equipment will help
researchers test instruments for upcoming space missions, including the
phoenix and northern light missions to Mars.

The vibration test module simulates the take-off of a rocket, and can
generate vibrations up to fifty times the force of gravity. The
thermal-vacuum chamber is capable of replicating conditions of space
including the extreme heat and cold experienced during space flight, and can
cycle temperatures between 140 C to -140 C.

The facility enables final-year undergraduates in York University’s existing
space science stream and new space engineering program to participate in
space test and research. York University is home to the only undergraduate
space engineering program in Canada.

Supported by the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and the Ontario
Research Fund (ORF), these enhancements enable the end-to-end development,
test and validation of space hardware and prototypes within a single
university facility.

York University is the leading interdisciplinary research and teaching
university in Canada. York offers a modern, academic experience at the
undergraduate and graduate level in Toronto, Canada’s most international
city. The third largest university in the country, York is host to a dynamic
academic community of 50,000 students and 7,000 faculty and staff, as well
as 190,000 alumni worldwide. York’s 11 faculties and 23 research centres
conduct ambitious, groundbreaking research that is interdisciplinary,
cutting across traditional academic boundaries. This distinctive and
collaborative approach is preparing students for the future and bringing
fresh insights and solutions to real-world challenges. York University is an
autonomous, not-for-profit corporation.

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For more information, please contact:

Melissa Hughes, Media Relations, York University, 416 736 2100 x22097 /
mehughes@yorku.ca