Research in planetary physics includes the areas of astronomy and astrophysics, atmospheric science, earth science, planetary science, geomatics engineering, and space engineering.

Norbert Bartel

Distinguished Research Professor Norbert Bartel studies compact, celestial sources of radio waves such as supernovae, pulsars and black holes. His group has made movies of supernovae to study the immediate aftermath of the explosion of a massive star. He also worked with the NASA/Stanford Gravity Probe B space mission to measure the proper motion of the mission's guide star relative to distant quasars. The mission determined the change in direction of the spin of ultra-precise gyroscopes relative to this guide star and confirmed two predictions of general relativity about the curvature of space-time.

Sunil Bisnath

Professor Sunil Bisnath's interests centre about the use of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSSs), most notably GPS, for a multitude of precise positioning and navigation applications. Specific application areas include crustal deformation monitoring, precise orbit determination, and precise positioning of offshore platforms. This research requires development of positioning algorithms, which include filters, functional models, stochastic models, and prediction models to mitigate physical affects. Recent algorithm research has focused on improving the robustness of precise point positioning, and extending the range of single-baseline, real-time kinematic (RTK) GPS.

Allan I. Carswell

Professor Allan I. Carswell's research includes "PHOENIX", the NASA 2007 mission to Mars. A group of Canadian Scientists centred at York University and supported by the Canadian Space Agency and engineers and specialists at MD Robotics and Optech Incorporated are developing instrumentation to fly to Mars in 2007 as part of the Phoenix Mars mission. NASA announced in August 2003 that Phoenix, with the Principal Investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, had been selected for launch in 2007 as the first in a new line of smaller "Scout" missions in the agency's Mars Exploration Program. The selection followed a highly competitive evaluation of about 25 proposals.

John Moores

Professor John Moores' research interests lie in the planetary sciences, particularly planetary atmospheres and interactions with the surface. In my work, I try to address questions across the solar system from Earth to Mars to Comets to Ceres to Giant Planets and their icy satellites. One example might be how it is that Mars went from being a warm and wet world in the ancient past to the dry and frozen desert world of today. Another might be how it is that an icy body like Enceladus can geyser water droplets out into space, and what can that material tell us about the ocean that lies within. In order to find answers, it is necessary to send spacecraft out to explore. I've been lucky enough to participate in three separate missions following my training with the Mars Exploration Rovers in 2004. I worked on the Huygens probe to Titan and later on I was involved with the Science and Operations teams of the Phoenix Mars Lander. These days I am a Participating Scientist with the Mars Science Laboratory Rover, better known as Curiosity.