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Written by Administrator on
Sunday, 25 May 2008
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Martian soil too oxidizing for life
20 August 2008 - With the samples that NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander has collected in the Martian arctic, we have been able to confirm the presence of water on Mars. However, the probe’s Microscopy, Electrochemistry and Conductivity Analyzer (MECA) is now indicating that the soil contains perchlorate, a highly oxidizing substance that would make for a harsh environment for plant life. Apart from the perchlorate, the soil is quite Earth-like in pH and mineral composition.
| Phoenix team hopes to extend mission
24 July 2008 - With a price tag of $420 million, NASA’s Phoenix lander has just thirty days until its original 90-day mission ends on August 23. Mission controllers have submitted a request for an extension of up to 30 days for Phoenix so that the lander can continue to study Mars’ arctic soil. Thirty days, however, is just about all the more that the mission could get, as the Martian winter is on its way. Phoenix landed above Mars’ Arctic Circle, so once the winter begins the sun will dip below the horizon for several weeks. With no sun, Phoenix will not be able to power itself with its solar arrays.
| Phoenix finds dry Martian soil, ice underneath
20 July 2008 - So, Phoenix has been busy in the past month. First up is that sticking dirt that got stuck on top of the grate leading into one of the lander’s oven. Having gotten that soil finally into the oven, heating it up revealed no signs of water. The gasses given off by the 175° C (350° F) soil were sent into the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer (TEGA). With no water vapor detected, the sample was then heated to a scorching 1000° C (1800° F) to vaporize any water-formed minerals in the soil. Nada.
| Phoenix dumps dirt into TEGA, and no dirt goes in
08 June 2008 - It was just all going so well. Too well, it seems. Having resolved communications difficulties back with Earth by switching to a different Martian satellite, Earth-bound mission controllers at the University of Arizona instructed the lander to take the small soil sample it had scooped up out of the Martian arctic and dump it into one of the eight Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA) ovens. But none of the soil seems to have made it through the screen into the oven.
| Phoenix operators delay initial dig for more practice
05 June 2008 - Mission operators as the University of Arizona have been sure to get plenty of practice operating Phoenix from afar before they dig in, literally. Throughout this week the operators of NASA’s $420 million Mars lander have been touching the soil at the probe’s arctic landing site and performing “dig and dump” maneuvers, which are very much what they sound like.
| Phoenix stretches arm, experiences short circuit
31 May 2008 - NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander is stretching out. Working from Earth, operators have managed to successfully unfold the lander’s eight-foot-long arm. The arm was manipulated so that the camera at its end could look underneath the lander, a blind spot for the top-mounted stereo camera. The images showed an area where the lander’s rocket motor had blown away the overlying soil, exposing tabular formations that appear to be either ice or rock.
| Phoenix sends back more pictures, imaged during landing
28 May 2008 - In a remarkable coincidence, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was passing over the landing area for the Phoenix lander on Sunday. The satellite continued to snap pictures as it went overhead, capturing an unprecedented image of the lander and parachutes from orbit. This was the first time that any orbiting spacecraft has captured the landing of another, on any planet.
| Phoenix successfully lands on Mars
25 May 2008 - 422 million miles and eight and a half months after launch, it all came down to what mission controls described as “seven minutes of terror.” For the first time in 32 years, a soft rocket-assisted landing was carried out on Mars, this time by NASA’s water ice-seeking Phoenix lander. After a fiery entry into the Martian atmosphere and a parachute assist, the Phoenix lander gracefully touched down in Mars’ arctic north, sending a confirmation signal that was received on Earth at 7:53 PM EDT.
| Live coverage of Phoenix landing on Mars, tonight, 6 PM EDT
25 May 2008 - NASA's Phoenix lander is targeted to touch down on Mars' northern polar region at 7:53 PM EDT. The landing will be carried live (albeit with a delay from the interplanetary broadcast) on NASA TV starting at 6:00 PM. Phoenix will be the first rocket-powered lander since the Viking probes in 1976. The lander will be a stationary craft, unlike the Mars Exploration Rovers closer to the equator, and will primarily be used to search for water ice under the Martian soil.
| Phoenix lander makes course correction towards Mars
17 April 2008 - On course for a May 25th landing on the Red Planet, the Phoenix lander this week fired its thrusters for 35 seconds to adjust its aim directly towards Mars’ north pole. The probe is targeting a region that mission scientists have named “Green Valley.” They plan to land Phoenix somewhere within a 62 by 12 mile target ellipse. This landing area has the largest concentration of ice outside of the polar caps.
| Phoenix probe launched towards Mars
04 August 2007 - A robotic dirt and ice digger built using spare parts from past missions blasted off Saturday, beginning a 422 million-mile journey to Mars that NASA hopes will culminate next spring in the first-ever landing within the Red Planet's Arctic Circle.
The unmanned Delta rocket carrying the Phoenix Mars Lander rose from its seaside pad at 5:26 a.m. ET, exactly on time, and hurtled through the clear moonlit sky. It was easily visible for nearly five minutes, a bright orange speck in a spray of stars.
| NASA Postpones Phoenix Launch
31 July 2007 - Friday's scheduled launch of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket has been postponed 24 hours. The two available launch times on Saturday, Aug. 4, are 5:26:34 a.m. and 6:02:59 a.m. EDT. Due to a forecast for severe weather around the Kennedy Space Center launch pad in Florida on Tuesday afternoon, fueling of the second stage will not be completed. Although fueling is expected to be finished Wednesday morning, there is insufficient contingency time in the schedule to move forward with the launch on Friday.
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