Canada's first astronaut, Marc Garneau, was in Sudbury Thursday, to announce a $625,000 grant from the Canadian Space Agency to the Northern Centre for Advanced Technolog (NORCAT).
NORCAT will use the money to conduct a six-month feasibility study into the development of a robotic drill that could be used for space exploration.
NORCAT has developed a prototype for a hardrock drill that could be used on Mars for exploration into that planet's geological profit. The drill is being called the Canadadrill.
Garneau, who is now president of the Canadian Space Agency, made three flights on the Space Shuttle in the 1980s.
The U.S. plans numerous missions to Mars this decade.
