Posted on 05/13/2008 1:39:27 PM PDT by grimalkin
Phoenix set to land on Mars
05.13.2008
May 13, 2008: NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander is preparing to end its long journey and begin a three-month mission to taste and sniff fistfuls of Martian soil and buried ice. The lander is scheduled to touch down on the Red Planet on Sunday, May 25th.
Phoenix will enter the top of the Martian atmosphere at almost 13,000 mph. In seven minutes, the spacecraft must complete a challenging sequence of events to slow to about 5 mph before its three legs reach the ground. Confirmation of the landing could come as early as 7:53 p.m. EDT.
"This is not a trip to grandma's house. Putting a spacecraft safely on Mars is hard and risky," said Ed Weiler, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Internationally, fewer than half of all attempts to land on Mars have succeeded."
Rocks large enough to spoil the landing or prevent opening of the solar panels present the greatest known risk. However, images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, detailed enough to show individual rocks smaller than the lander, have helped lessen that risk.
"We have blanketed nearly the entire landing area with HiRISE images," said Ray Arvidson of Washington University in St. Louis, chairman of the Phoenix landing-site working group. "This is one of the least rocky areas on all of Mars and we are confident that rocks will not detrimentally impact the ability of Phoenix to land safely."
Earlier in 2002, NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter discovered that plentiful water ice lies just beneath the surface throughout much of high-latitude Mars. NASA chose the Phoenix proposal over 24 other proposals to become the first endeavor in the Mars Scout program of competitively selected missions.
"Phoenix will land farther north on Mars than any previous mission," said Phoenix Project Manager Barry Goldstein of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
The solar-powered robotic lander will manipulate a 7.7-foot arm to scoop up samples of soil and underground ice. Onboard laboratory instruments will analyze the samples. Cameras and a Canadian-supplied weather station will supply other information about the site's environment.
"The Phoenix mission not only studies the northern permafrost region, but also takes the next step in Mars exploration by determining whether this frosty region, which may encompass as much as 25 percent of the Martian surface, is habitable," said Peter Smith, Phoenix principal investigator at the University of Arizona, Tucson.
One research goal is to assess whether conditions at the site ever have been favorable for microbial life. The composition and texture of soil above the ice could give clues to whether the ice ever melts in response to long-term climate cycles. Another important question is whether the scooped-up samples contain carbon-based chemicals that are potential building blocks and food for life itself.
Stay tuned to Science@NASA for updates. And good luck, Phoenix!
Editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA
You can argue whether it constitutes religion but, your statement that "[manned space exploration is for the] long term survival of the human species" clearly indicates a humanistic and/or doomsday world view. Frankly, I'm not one bit concerned about man's long-term survival; I find it totally ridiculous. But, I don't demand you agree with my religious beliefs (much less fund them).
And I'm sure you could find all sorts of things two-thirds of Americans would have the federal government supportuniversal health care, for exampleespecially if you say those things won't exceed 1 percent of the federal budget. Space stuff is cool, everyone knows only government can do that kind of thing and, besides, 1% is nothing! The issue is not the size of the burden; the issue is the principle.
That's just my opinion, of course. Have your fun. ;^)
It isn’t “humanistic or doomsday” and one cannot throw this in that box and dismiss it as having “fun”
It’s hard fac.....
It’s the nature of our species to explore and go beyond the horizon, this is key why we succeed as a species, part of adaption and evolving forward. Wether it is humans exploring better hunting grounds, exploring space or exploring the nature of atoms.
And the reality that the earth is an oasis in a vast blackness and we have all our eggs in one basket right now.
Those are facts.
Expanding human presence beyond earth is part of those same processes that put Me and you where we are today.
If humans had just stayed put in a tiny corner of the world in small numbers none of us would be here today. That is fact.
I would advise to look beyond a tiny portion of taxes and consider the grand picture and factual reasons why we do such things.
It is moneys well spent. That is based on the principles. Because I am not looking at it myopically from a bean counters perspective, rather I see it as the mapping forward the course of the human race. It’s investment and insurance in the future.
Another reason why the human race has been so successful.
The brains ablity to imagine the future and mold it to suit our desires.
Science Channel To Broadcast Red Planet Landing Live May 25
Silver Spring MD (SPX) May 15, 2008
Science Channel will broadcast live coverage of mankind’s next major step in Mars exploration with MARS LIVE: THE PHOENIX LANDS premiering Sunday, May 25, 2008, from 7-9 PM (ET) and 4-6 PM (PT). Originating LIVE from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. and the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, the program will give viewers a first look at photos sent back from the Mars surface.
There will also be exclusive, in-depth analysis and perspective of the mission’s historic scientific implications from NASA Chief Scientist Dr. James B. Garvin, as well as firsthand reactions from scientists including Phoenix Mars Mission Principal Investigator Peter Smith.
“We’re incredibly proud that Science Channel will cover this extraordinary live event and offer our audience exclusive analysis of NASA’s historic mission,” said Clark Bunting, president and general manager, Discovery Emerging Networks. “Science Channel’s mandate is to celebrate and understand the full spectrum of science, so we’re excited to offer our viewers in-depth commentary of this exciting achievement as events unfold.”
In what is designed to be mankind’s best effort to date to find life on Mars, the rover has covered 422 million miles over the past nine months. Its mission is to help answer questions about life-supporting conditions on the planet by analyzing ice from the northern Martian arctic using a suite of onboard, state-of-the-art instruments.
Dr. James B. Garvin is the world’s leading expert on the surface of Mars. Throughout the broadcast, Dr. Garvin will guide viewers as the Phoenix Lander approaches the surface of Mars, and provide commentary in the critical moments when NASA loses radio contact with the rover. As the first pictures return from the Mars surface, Dr. Garvin will lend valuable perspective on what scientists are seeing and may find, and can speak to what conditions
My concern for landings in the Mars polar regions has been over the
condition of the subsurface.
Some reading this may recall the uncertainty over the lunar surface - would astronauts sink into a deep dust layer on landing? Of course, actually landing on the Moon dispelled that view (at least at the landing sites!).
The situation at the polar regions of Mars is a yearly cycle of sublimation and deposition of carbon dioxide and water frost, combined with airborne dust scattering and solar heating. Could the subsurface be honeycombed in some of the polar regions? Can that explain the loss of (at least) the Deep Space Two penetrators?
They’re going to dig at the ice caps? Better not let Algore find out about this!!!
I think the balloon deal is pretty good. Proven technology. On the cheap.
Nuttin wrong with that.
It limits how much you can send though.
And certainly people would not want to arrive bouncing about.
We need to master this stuff.
Check how the next rover will arrive on Mars...
“Sky Crane”.......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0A-AgytQY0
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