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Science Phoenix Mars Lander near journey’s end
Science Phoenix Mars Lander near journey’s end | Phoenix Mars Lander near journey’s end |
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| by William Atkins | |
| Wednesday, 14 May 2008 | |
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Page 2 of 2 The Lander is not a roving type of lander, like Spirit and Opportunity (also on Mars), but will remain stationary at its landing position. Featured Whitepaper
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Science DiscussionsPlus, by making the Lander fixed, additional instruments were able to be added to it. The Green Valley area is believed by NASA scientists to contain the largest amount of water-ice outside of the polar regions of Mars. After successfully landing on the planet, the Mars Phoenix Lander will use a 7.7-foot (2.3-meter) arm to collect ice locate under the surface and soil on the surface. Instruments onboard the Lander will analyze the collected samples and send back the results to scientists on Earth. During its three-month mission on the surface, the Mars Phoenix Lander will use various other instruments and cameras to measure and analyze other characteristics of the planet, such as its environment, geography, and atmosphere. However, its primary mission is to study the geologic history of water (to help understand the planet’s history of climate change) and to search for evidence of a habitable zone within the ice-soil boundary layer (which might contain evidence of microbial life). Peter Smith, Phoenix principal investigator from the University of Arizona at Tucson, states, “The Phoenix mission not only studies the northern permafrost region, but takes the next step in Mars exploration by determining whether this region, which may encompass as much as 25 percent of the Martian surface, is habitable." [NASA news release] NASA scientists are hopeful, but not confident, that the Lander will survive past three months on the planet. After the three-month mark, the winter season comes to that northern region of Mars. Such cold weather will likely bring several feet of carbon dioxide ice to the landing site—and most likely doom any further operations of Phoenix. The Mars Phoenix Lander program is coordinated by the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona, under the direction of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Pasadena, California). The program is a partnership of universities from the United States, Canada, Switzerland, Denmark and Germany, along with NASA, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and various companies within the aerospace industry. Some of the U.S. universities participating in the program are Texas A&M University, Tufts University (Massachusetts), University of Colorado, University of Michigan, University of Texas (Dallas), and University of Washington. York University (Canada) and University of Copenhagen (Denmark) are also participating with the Mars Phoenix Lander mission. Some of the organizations within the aerospace industry that are also participating in the mission include: Malin Space Science Systems (California), NASA Johnson Space Center (Texas), Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (Germany), SETI Institute (California), and Optech Inc. (Canada). For more about the Phoenix mission on the Web, visit the NASA Phoenix website. |
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