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This is what gives us credibility with other space nations. It’s Canada’s visibility in space. It’s what our future in space will be built on: The accomplishments we have now.

Herd is a frequent federal adviser on space exploration.

Canada has never been part of a successful Mars mission, though they sent one instrument on a Japanese probe that was damaged in space and missed its rendezvous with the planet. This time, the Canadian team, led by York University, estimates a 95-per-cent chance of landing softly on May 25.

Canada has built two parts of Mars Phoenix, says Peter Taylor, a space scientist at York University:

• One is called lidar, a radar-like device that shoots pencil-thin laser beams at the atmosphere to study the thin clouds and thicker dust. The shoebox-sized device will scan for dust devils — swirling squalls of dust. Fine red-brown dust is everywhere on Mars, and it can gum up machinery.
• The other is a mini-weather station. It won’t forecast much, but it should give accurate readings of temperature, wind and air pressure day by day in the Martian Arctic.