NASAs Phoenix Mars Lander. By Chris Gainor Laser technology has
the image of being as futuristic as space travel itself, but
lasers are being used for many purposes beyond their science
fiction role as a weapon. And Canadian industry is taking a
leading role in developing lasers for space applications.
Canadian firms are world leaders in applying LIDAR (for light
detection and ranging) technology in space, including inspecting
tiles on the Space Shuttle during flight and looking for clouds
and precipitation on Mars. LIDAR is already finding many
applications close to Earth, including surveying and mapping,
measuring biomass for forestry and agriculture, detecting
topographic features for use by geologists and archeologists,
and other remote sensing uses for industry, the military and
even law enforcement. LIDAR's most important use in the future
may lie in assisting spacecraft with rendezvous and docking
operations in space, but future business prospects for Canadian
contractors remain unclear as space agenci