NASA 'Phoenix' Mars Mission - General Discussion

[Todd M]

I am shocked this has not been posted about yet, but here is a General Discussion on the Mars Lander 'Phoenix'.

 

Basically, post news articles, information about the mission and anything you want that relates to Phoenix.

 

An overview and news centre can be found here at NASA's website, http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoen ... index.html

 

So I will kick it off!

 

NASA's Phoenix Spacecraft Lands at Martian Arctic Site05.25.08

 

Artist's concept of the Phoenix spacecraft on Mars. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Calech/University of Arizona PASADENA, Calif.

 

NASA's Phoenix spacecraft landed in the northern polar region of Mars today to begin three months of examining a site chosen for its likelihood of having frozen water within reach of the lander's robotic arm.

 

Radio signals received at 4:53:44 p.m. Pacific Time (7:53:44 p.m. Eastern Time) confirmed the Phoenix Mars Lander had survived its difficult final descent and touchdown 15 minutes earlier. The signals took that long to travel from Mars to Earth at the speed of light.

 

Mission team members at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.; Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver; and the University of Arizona, Tucson, cheered confirmation of the landing and eagerly awaited further information from Phoenix later tonight.

 

Among those in the JPL control room was NASA Administrator Michael Griffin, who noted this was the first successful Mars landing without airbags since Viking 2 in 1976.

 

"For the first time in 32 years, and only the third time in history, a JPL team has carried out a soft landing on Mars," Griffin said. "I couldn't be happier to be here to witness this incredible achievement."

 

 

Team members celebrate Phoenix landing on Mars.

 

During its 422-million-mile flight from Earth to Mars after launching on Aug. 4, 2007, Phoenix relied on electricity from solar panels during the spacecraft's cruise stage. The cruise stage was jettisoned seven minutes before the lander, encased in a protective shell, entered the Martian atmosphere. Batteries provide electricity until the lander's own pair of solar arrays spread open.

 

"We've passed the hardest part and we're breathing again, but we still need to see that Phoenix has opened its solar arrays and begun generating power," said JPL's Barry Goldstein, the Phoenix project manager. If all goes well, engineers will learn the status of the solar arrays between 7 and 7:30 p.m. Pacific Time (10 and 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time) from a Phoenix transmission relayed via NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter.

 

The team will also be watching for the Sunday night transmission to confirm that masts for the stereo camera and the weather station have swung to their vertical positions.

 

"What a thrilling landing! But the team is waiting impatiently for the next set of signals that will verify a healthy spacecraft," said Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, principal investigator for the Phoenix mission. "I can hardly contain my enthusiasm. The first landed images of the Martian polar terrain will set the stage for our mission."

 

Another critical deployment will be the first use of the 7.7-foot-long robotic arm on Phoenix, which will not be attempted for at least two days. Researchers will use the arm during future weeks to get samples of soil and ice into laboratory instruments on the lander deck.

 

The signal confirming that Phoenix had survived touchdown was relayed via Mars Odyssey and received on Earth at the Goldstone, Calif., antenna station of NASA's Deep Space Network.

 

Phoenix uses hardware from a spacecraft built for a 2001 launch that was canceled in response to the loss of a similar Mars spacecraft during a 1999 landing attempt. Researchers who proposed the Phoenix mission in 2002 saw the unused spacecraft as a resource for pursuing a new science opportunity. Earlier in 2002, Mars Odyssey 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.

 

The Phoenix mission is led by Smith at the University of Arizona with project management at JPL and development partnership at Lockheed Martin, Denver. International contributions come from the Canadian Space Agency; the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland; the universities of Copenhagen and Aarhus, Denmark; Max Planck Institute, Germany; and the Finnish Meteorological Institute. For more about Phoenix, visit http://www.nasa.gov/phoenix .

Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoen ... 0525b.html

 

NASA's Phoenix Spacecraft Reports Good Health After Mars Landing05.25.08

 

This is a false-color image taken by the Phoenix spacecraft on Mars.

 

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Calech/University of Arizona

 

Larger view PASADENA, Calif. -- A NASA spacecraft today sent pictures showing itself in good condition after making the first successful landing in a polar region of Mars.

 

The images from NASA's Mars Phoenix Lander also provided a glimpse of the flat valley floor expected to have water-rich permafrost within reach of the lander's robotic arm. The landing ends a 422-million-mile journey from Earth and begins a three-month mission that will use instruments to taste and sniff the northern polar site's soil and ice.

 

"We see the lack of rocks that we expected, we see the polygons that we saw from space, we don't see ice on the surface, but we think we will see it beneath the surface. It looks great to me," said Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, Tucson, principal investigator for the Phoenix mission.

 

Radio signals received at 4:53:44 p.m. Pacific Time (7:53:44 p.m. Eastern Time) confirmed that the Phoenix Mars Lander had survived its difficult final descent and touchdown 15 minutes earlier. In the intervening time, those signals crossed the distance from Mars to Earth at the speed of light. The confirmation ignited cheers by mission team members at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.; Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver; and the University of Arizona.

 

As planned, Phoenix stopped transmitting one minute after landing and focused its limited battery power on opening its solar arrays, and other critical activities. About two hours after touchdown, it sent more good news. The first pictures confirmed that the solar arrays needed for the mission's energy supply had unfolded properly, and masts for the stereo camera and weather station had swung into vertical position.

 

 

Phoenix Project Manager Barry Goldstein and Principal Investigator Peter Smith await data in JPL's mission control during the Phoenix landing on Mars. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Calech

 

Larger view "Seeing these images after a successful landing reaffirmed the thorough work over the past five years by a great team," said Phoenix Project Manager Barry Goldstein of JPL. A key milestone still ahead is the first use of the lander's 7.7-foot-long robotic arm, not planned before Tuesday.

 

"Only five of our planet's 11 previous attempts to land on the Red Planet have succeeded. In exploring the universe, we accept some risk in exchange for the potential of great scientific rewards," said Ed Weiler, NASA associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

 

Phoenix carries science instruments to assess whether ice just below the surface ever thaws and whether some chemical ingredients of life are preserved in the icy soil. These are key questions in evaluating whether the environment has ever been favorable for microbial life. Phoenix will also study other aspects of the soil and atmosphere with instrument capabilities never before used on Mars. Canada supplied the lander's weather station.

 

Transmissions from Phoenix have reported results after a check of several components and systems on the spacecraft. "Phoenix is an amazing machine, and it was built and flown by an amazing team. Through the entire entry, descent and landing phase, it performed flawlessly," said Ed Sedivy, Phoenix program manager at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company. "The spacecraft stayed in contact with Earth during that critical period, and we received a lot of data about its health and performance. I'm happy to report it's in great shape."

 

Phoenix uses hardware from a spacecraft built for a 2001 launch that was canceled in response to the loss of a similar Mars spacecraft during a 1999 landing attempt. Researchers who proposed the Phoenix mission in 2002 saw the unused spacecraft as a resource for pursuing a new science opportunity. A few months earlier, 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.

 

The signal confirming that Phoenix had survived touchdown and the transmission of the first pictures were relayed via Mars Odyssey and received on Earth at the Goldstone, Calif., antenna station of NASA's Deep Space Network.

 

The Phoenix mission is led by Smith at the University of Arizona with project management at JPL and development partnership at Lockheed Martin. International contributions come from the Canadian Space Agency; the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland; the universities of Copenhagen and Aarhus, Denmark; Max Planck Institute, Germany; and the Finnish Meteorological Institute. For more about Phoenix, visit http://www.nasa.gov/phoenix.

Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoen ... 0525c.html

 

Camera on Mars Orbiter Snaps Phoenix During Landing05.26.08

 

NASA's Mars Phoenix Lander can be seen parachuting down to Mars, in this image captured by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

 

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Calech/University of Arizona

 

PASADENA, Calif. -- A telescopic camera in orbit around Mars caught a view of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander suspended from its parachute during the lander's successful arrival at Mars Sunday evening, May 25.

 

The image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter marks the first time ever one spacecraft has photographed another one in the act of landing on Mars.

 

Meanwhile, scientists pored over initial images from Phoenix, the first ever taken from the surface of Mars' polar regions. Phoenix returned information that it was in good health after its first night on Mars, and the Phoenix team sent the spacecraft its to-do list for the day.

 

"We can see cracks in the troughs that make us think the ice is still modifying the surface," said Phoenix Principal Investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, Tucson. "We see fresh cracks. Cracks can't be old. They would fill in."

 

Camera pointing for the image from HiRISE used navigational information about Phoenix updated on landing day. The camera team and Phoenix team would not know until the image was sent to Earth whether it had actually caught Phoenix.

 

"We saw a few other bright spots in the image first, but when we saw the parachute and the lander with the cords connecting them, there was no question," said HiRISE Principal Investigator Alfred McEwen, also of the University of Arizona.

 

 

This movie shows the vast plains of the northern polar region of Mars, as seen by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander shortly after touching down on the Red Planet. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Texas A&M

 

"I'm floored. I'm absolutely floored," said Phoenix Project Manager Barry Goldstein of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. A team analyzing what can be learned from the Phoenix descent through the Martian atmosphere will use the image to reconstruct events.

 

HiRISE usually points downward. For this image, the pointing was at 62 degrees, nearly two-thirds of the way from straight down to horizontal. To tilt the camera, the whole orbiter must tilt. Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was already pointed toward the expected descent path of Phoenix to record radio transmissions from Phoenix.

 

McEwen said, "We've never taken an image at such an oblique angle before."

 

Monday's tasks for Phoenix include checkouts of some instruments and systems, plus additional imaging of the lander's surroundings.

 

The Phoenix mission is led by Smith at the University of Arizona with project management at JPL and development partnership at Lockheed Martin, Denver. International contributions come from the Canadian Space Agency; the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland; the universities of Copenhagen and Aarhus, Denmark; Max Planck Institute, Germany; and the Finnish Meteorological Institute. For more about Phoenix, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/phoenix .

 

JPL manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission for NASA. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, Colo., is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The University of Arizona operates the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera, which was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo.

'Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoen ... 80526.html

 

 

[Todd M]

NASA Mars Lander Prepares to Move Arm05.27.08

 

The butterfly-like object in this picture is NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander, as seen from above by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Calech/University of Arizona

 

Mission scientists are eager to move Phoenix's robotic arm, for that arm will deliver samples of icy terrain to their instruments made to study this unexplored Martian environment.

 

The team sent commands for moving the arm on Tuesday morning, May 27, to NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for relay to Phoenix. However, the orbiter did not relay those commands to the lander, so arm movement and other activities are now planned for Wednesday. The orbiter's communication-relay system is in a standby mode. NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter is available for relaying communications between Earth and Phoenix.

 

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter did send back spectacular first images of the landed Phoenix from orbit, views from the Phoenix lander of where it will work for the next three months, and a preliminary weather report.

 

A newly processed image from the high-resolution camera known as HiRISE on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows a full-resolution view of the Phoenix parachute and lander during its May 25 descent, with Heimdall crater in the background.

 

 

"Phoenix appears to be descending into the 10 kilometer, or 6-mile, crater, but is actually 20 kilometers, or about 12 miles, in front of the crater," said HiRISE principal investigator Alfred S. McEwen of the University of Arizona, Tucson. This is a view from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter of the Phoenix parachute and lander during its May 25 descent, with Heimdall crater in the background. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Calech/University of Arizona

 

HiRISE has taken a new color image of Phoenix on the ground about 22 hours after it landed. It shows the parachute attached to the back shell, the heat shield and the lander itself against red Mars. The parachute and lander are about 300 meters, roughly 1,000 feet, apart.

 

Commands to be sent to the lander Wednesday morning include taking more pictures of the surroundings and making the first movements of the mission's crucial robotic arm.

 

A covering that had shielded the arm from microbes during its last few months before launch had not fully retracted on landing day, May 25, but it moved farther from the arm during the following day.

 

"The biobarrier had relaxed more and allows more clearance, but it was not a major concern either way," said Fuk Li, manager of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

 

During the next three months, the arm will dig into soil near the lander and deliver samples of soil and ice to laboratory instruments on the lander deck. Following today's commands, its movements will begin with unlatching the wrist, then moving the arm upwards in a stair-step manner.

 

Phoenix principal investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona was delighted with new images of the workspace. "The workspace is ideal for us because it looks very diggable. We're very happy to see just a few rocks scattered in the digging area."

 

The Phoenix weather station, provided by the Canadian Space Agency, was activated within the first hour after landing on Mars, and measurements are now being recorded continuously. The data from the first 18 hours after landing have been transmitted back to the science team, and they have provided a weather report. The temperature ranged between a minimum of minus 80 degrees Celsius (minus 112 degrees Fahrenheit) in the early morning and a maximum of minus 30 degrees Celsius (minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit) in the afternoon. The average pressure was 8.55 millibars, which is less than a hundredth of the sea level pressure on Earth. The wind speed was 20 kilometers per hour (13 miles per hour), out of the northeast. The skies were clear. More instruments will be activated over the coming days, and the weather report will expand to include measurements of humidity and visibility.

 

Smith presented a new Surface Stereo Imager view of the American flag and a mini-DVD on the Phoenix's deck, about three feet above the Martian surface. The mini-DVD from the Planetary Society contains a message to future Martian explorers, science fiction stories and art inspired by the Red Planet, and the names of more than a quarter million Earthlings.

 

The Phoenix mission is led by Smith at the University of Arizona with project management at JPL and development partnership at Lockheed Martin. International contributions come from the Canadian Space Agency; the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland; the universities of Copenhagen and Aarhus, Denmark; Max Planck Institute, Germany; and the Finnish Meteorological Institute. More Phoenix information is at http://www.nasa.gov/phoenix.

Source:http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/news/phoenix-20080527.html

 

 

[Guest g_i_jack029]

wow, that's is amazing!

 

how many rovers are on the red planet now???

 

 

[Guest PaulR]

how many rovers are on the red planet now???

Only two I believe. Phoenix is not a rover. It is more akin to the Viking projects of the 70's. It will stay in one place and dig samples from around it's base.

 

 

[Guest g_i_jack029]

ok, well, how many human objects have landed on the red planet???

 

 

[Guest Glenn]

We are just returning to where we all came from originally

 

 

[Guest PaulR]

@jack - I don't have the exact number, but I think I read that there have been 5-6 successful missions to Mars. Here is a handy link for all mission (failed and successful).

 

@Glenn - I concur

 

@Todd - Thanks for kick-starting the topic. We (as a species) tend to be rather unawed by news such as this. I think it is because we expected much more after the leaps that were taken in the 60's-70's. It is sad really. This is unique, daring, exciting, and is the baby-steps to the ultimate survival of our species. One day (and no, I do not mean in the near future) our sun will cease to exist, and with it goes Aristotle, Bach, Beethoven, Da Vinci, Charles E. Kingsford-Smith, all those who came before that make us who we are today, and who we will be in the future. Unless we take them and us to the stars. It demands our attention and is deserving of comment.

 

 

[Guest g_i_jack029]

AMEN Paul, amen =D> :D

 

 

[Todd M]

@Todd - Thanks for kick-starting the topic. We (as a species) tend to be rather unawed by news such as this. I think it is because we expected much more after the leaps that were taken in the 60's-70's. It is sad really. This is unique, daring, exciting, and is the baby-steps to the ultimate survival of our species. One day (and no, I do not mean in the near future) our sun will cease to exist, and with it goes Aristotle, Bach, Beethoven, Da Vinci, Charles E. Kingsford-Smith, all those who came before that make us who we are today, and who we will be in the future. Unless we take them and us to the stars. It demands our attention and is deserving of comment.

Alot of my friends and even people I talk to are just not interested, or unawed. However with one or two I can sit and look at the stars and just be positivly intrigued by what they off, and by their beauty. These kinds of missions also give me hope that we can one day eventually move away from Earth and be able to explore the planets, the solar system and beyond. I must get to the CDSCC and see if they have any info sheets on Phoenix, would be an interesting read.

 

 

[Guest g_i_jack029]

@Todd - Thanks for kick-starting the topic. We (as a species) tend to be rather unawed by news such as this.

lol, so thats why people don't want to go star gazing with me :roll: :D