Seven minutes of terror as Phoenix Mars spacecraft attempts historic landing

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Sunday, 25 May 2008 14:05

Science - Space

The site continues explaining that: “On sols 2 through 9, the instruments aboard Phoenix continue to take initial measurements. TEGA takes measurements of the martian atmosphere using its mass spectrometer.”

“The RA acquires a sample of martian soil and delivers it to TEGA on sol 4. This sample is analyzed by the differential scanning calorimeter in TEGA on the following sol. Another sample is delivered on sol 7 for analysis using MECA.”

“The digging operations phase is planned to take place on sols 10-90. SSI and RAC images will be analyzed to determine where the RA should dig. Phoenix will dig for up to 2.5 hours per sol during this period.”

“As the RA digs into the martian surface, SSI and RAC images will help determine when new samples should be delivered to the scientific instruments on Phoenix. Samples will be delivered to TEGA about every 15 cm (5.9 in) or when layering is obvious.”

“The four MECA cells will be reserved for samples from different layers that are expected to be encountered while digging. One cell will analyze a sample from the surface, another will analyze the dry regolith overburden, and one will be kept in reserve for the icy layer. One MECA cell will be kept for a repeat measurement or to examine another layer.”

Good luck, NASA, the University of Arizona, and the Phoenix Mars Mission. May your landing be soft, your communication back to Earth successful, and your experiments fruitful!