Northern Light Launches Funding Campaign for Canadian Space Exploration Mission

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Nov. 4, 2014) - For more than a decade a team from Canada has been preparing to change the way we explore Mars. Led by Dr. Ben Quine, a professor of space engineering at York University, and Toronto-based space company Thoth Technology, the Northern Light mission to Mars is now ready for the next phase of its launch plan - but it needs your help to take off!

Over the past 10 years the Northern Light team has been working with York University's Lassonde School of Engineering. They have developed and tested a surface lander with robotic arm, micro-rover and suite of sophisticated scientific equipment which will explore the Martian surface and send data back to Earth.

As documented by The Discovery Channel, Thoth Technology also undertook the challenge of refurbishing Canada's largest radio antenna at the Algonquin Radio Observatory (ARO) to serve as the Northern Light ground station. The 46-metre radio telescope at ARO is one of the largest fully-steerable dishes in the world and the only one in Canada capable of receiving the signals which will be broadcast from Mars.

With these crucial elements in place, the mission now needs support from others who believe in the importance of space exploration. With the help of celebrity spokesperson Ed Robertson of the Barenaked Ladies, Northern Light unveiled today a promotional video and Indiegogo campaign to raise the funds needed to achieve the mission's launch in 2018.

"Northern Light represents more than the first Canadian-led mission to Mars," says Quine. "It represents a new approach to space-mission development." While the technology has been developed and tested by experts in Canada, the mission will succeed because of support from people around the globe who share our vision and believe in our dream.

Those who support Northern Light's Indiegogo campaign will receive tangible rewards - from branded shirts and hats for donations of $50 all the way to a private landing viewing party at the ARO ($10,000) or naming rights to the lander ($1 million).

To help everyone celebrate the campaign launch, Robertson is encouraging fans to create their own "Mars dance," upload their video at www.marsrocks.ca and share it on social media using the hashtag #MarsDance. When the mission launches, Northern Light will send the videos into space!

View the promotional video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Lr66N7Ilaw

Visit the Indiegogo campaign https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/northern-light-mission-to-mars

Upload your Mars dance http://www.marsrocks.ca