NASA Probe Closing In On Mars

[Kor37 9]

NASA probe closing in on Mars, but will it land?

By Irene Klotz,Reuters

Posted: 2008-05-13 15:20:43

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Nine months ago, NASA's Phoenix probe blasted off for Mars with an unprecedented mission to sample water on another world.

 

Before that can happen, however, the space agency faces a formidable challenge: landing.

 

The odds are not great. Historically, 55 percent of all attempts to land on Mars have failed and the method being used for the touchdown of the Phoenix spacecraft on May 25 hasn't been attempted in 32 years.

 

"This is no trip to grandma's for the weekend," Ed Weiler, NASA's associate administrator for space science, said during a news conference on Tuesday.

 

After a nearly glitch-free ride, Phoenix is scheduled to settle near Mars' north pole at 7:36 p.m. EDT (2336 GMT), but no one will know whether it succeeded until about 15 minutes later. That's how long it will take radio signals, traveling at light speed, to reach Earth, 171 million miles away.

 

Rather than using airbags to cushion and bounce to a stop like the twin Mars exploration rovers Spirit and Opportunity, Phoenix is equipped with steering rockets to descend more precisely on target.

 

A propulsive landing system also is better suited to the heavier spacecraft that NASA would need to support eventual human expeditions on Mars.

 

NASA tried a rocket-powered descent on a probe called Mars Polar Lander in 1999. The mission came to an abrupt end during the final approach and landing. What went wrong remains a mystery.

 

"They've done everything they can do to make this a success, but Mars has been known to cause trouble," Weiler said.

 

NASA used a similar landing system for its twin Mars Voyager probes in the 1970s.

 

FIVE OF SIX SUCCESSFUL

 

Phoenix will be the sixth lander the United States has sent to Mars, five of which touched down successfully. The statistic does little to allay the nervousness of Phoenix flight controllers, who will be stationed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, to wait out the news from Mars.

 

The worst part will be what project manager Barry Goldstein calls "the seven minutes of terror" -- the high-speed ride through the planet's thin atmosphere and the landing on the Martian equivalent of northern Alaska.

 

During those minutes, Phoenix will enter Mars' atmosphere zooming along at 12,600 mph (20,160 kph) relative to the planet, then dissipate most of its speed and come to screeching halt.

 

If everything works properly, the spacecraft will come to rest on a relatively rock-free and smooth area directly on top of a ice-rich bed of soil. During the three-month mission, Phoenix is to sample the soil and ice to determine if conditions were suitable for life to take hold.

 

Phoenix has a 7.7-foot (2.3-metre) robotic arm to bore down into the ground and retrieve samples for analysis. Its suite of science instruments includes small ovens to melt the ice and spectrometers detect a variety of gases.

 

While not specifically designed to detect life, Phoenix should be able if Mars has or had the right stuff to support it.

 

"My greatest hope," said lead scientist Peter Smith, with the University of Arizona in Tucson, "is that we'll change the direction of Mars exploration."

[VaBeachGuy 12]

So this is happening tonight? I'll have to watch the NASA channel.

[A l t e r E g o 9]

So this is happening tonight? I'll have to watch the NASA channel.

 

Program Note: NASA TV Live coverage of the Phoenix landing on Mars begins at 6 p.m. EDT on Sunday, May 25

 

I'm glad we haven't missed it.

[Gummy 0]

I'll have to watch this.

Thanks for letting us know when it's going to be on, AE.

I probably would have missed it.

[VaBeachGuy 12]

We're just minutes away from the attempted landing.

[Theunicornhunter 2]

And we have a touchdown

[VaBeachGuy 12]

And we have a touchdown

Football in May?

 

 

[Theunicornhunter 2]

And we have a touchdown

Football in May?

 

 

 

nasa

 

WASHINGTON -- 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 May 25.

 

Besides everyone should know me well enough to know I wouldn't make a sports comment.

Edited May 26, 2008 by TheUnicornHunter

[VaBeachGuy 12]

And we have a touchdown

Football in May?

 

 

 

nasa

 

WASHINGTON -- 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 May 25.

 

Besides everyone should know me well enough to know I wouldn't make a sports comment.

 

lol I was just teasing. I'm pretty obsessed with Football 24-7/365.

 

On topic...

 

http://www.nasa.gov/phoenix

 

[Theunicornhunter 2]

I know there's nothing there but dust but can you just imagine the reaction in the command center if an alien face popped in front of that camera.

[Kor37 9]

This is a great event. Landing that thing on Mars successfully was like hitting a hole in one. Good Job, NASA!.....

[Gummy 0]

This is a great event. Landing that thing on Mars successfully was like hitting a hole in one. Good Job, NASA!.....

Agreed. Tremendous job by NASA!

[A l t e r E g o 9]

I ended up missing live coverage. O' well, great job NASA!

[VaBeachGuy 12]

I ended up missing live coverage. O' well, great job NASA!

You didn't really miss a lot, a room full of people cheering and then about a half hour later some b&w pics of Mars.

[A l t e r E g o 9]

I ended up missing live coverage. O' well, great job NASA!

You didn't really miss a lot, a room full of people cheering and then about a half hour later some b&w pics of Mars.

 

I know, but I really wanted to be there. I was there for Voyager at Neptune on KPBS - Galileo at Jupiter, Cassini at Saturn, Pathfinder, Sprint and Opportunity at Mars, the NEAR probe landing on asteroid 433 Eros, the Deep Impact collision with comet Tempel 1 and they are all very fond memory's for me.