Phoenix Lifts Off Tonight to Look for Signs of Life on Mars

[onedomino]

While the Russians are off on a legally meaningless flag planting mission via submarine to the North Pole, America will plant its flag via interplanetary spacecraft on the north pole of Mars. The Phoenix Lander will look for water and signs of life. Liftoff is scheduled for 2:26am PDT, 08.04.07. Phoenix will land on Mars 05.25.08, nine months after launch; a good gestation period for a robot looking for signs of life. Good luck to JPL Los Angeles, NASA, and the University of Arizona Tucson: the organizations involved in managing the mission.

Next Departure for Mars Stands Ready to Fly
August 02, 2007

complete article: http://jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2007-084

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A NASA robotic explorer equipped to dig up and analyze icy soil on Mars sits atop a 13-story tall stack of rocket engines prepared for liftoff before sunup on Saturday.

A Delta II launch vehicle will carry the Phoenix Mars Lander into Earth orbit and, about 90 minutes later, give it the push needed to send it to Mars. A three-week period when planetary positions are favorable for this launch begins with an opportunity at 234 a.m. PDT (534 a.m. EDT) on Aug. 4. A second opportunity the same day, if needed, will come at 3:02:59 a.m. PDT (6:02:59 a.m. EDT).

"We have worked for four years to get to this point, so we are all very excited," said Barry Goldstein, Phoenix project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena. "Our attention after launch will be focused on flying the spacecraft to our selected landing site, preparing for surface operations, and continuing our relentless examination and testing for the all-important descent and landing on May 25 of next year."

Phoenix will travel 679 million kilometers (422 million miles) in an outward arc from Earth to Mars. It will determine whether icy soil on far northern Mars has conditions that have ever been suitable for life.

 

[onedomino]

No problem:

NASA Spacecraft Heads for Polar Region of Mars
August 04, 2007

complete article: http://jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2007-086

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA's Phoenix Mars Mission blasted off Saturday, aiming for a May 25, 2008, arrival at the Red Planet and a close-up examination of the surface of the northern polar region.

Perched atop a Delta II rocket, the spacecraft left Cape Canaveral Air Force Base at 5:26 a.m. Eastern Time into the predawn sky above Florida's Atlantic coast.

"Today's launch is the first step in the long journey to the surface of Mars. We certainly are excited about launching, but we still are concerned about our actual landing, the most difficult step of this mission," said Phoenix Principal Investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, Tucson.

The spacecraft established communications with its ground team via the Goldstone, Calif., antenna station of NASA's Deep Space Network at 7:02 a.m. Eastern Time, after separating from the third stage of the launch vehicle.

"The launch team did a spectacular job getting us on the way," said Barry Goldstein, Phoenix project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "Our trajectory is still being evaluated in detail; however we are well within expected limits for a successful journey to the red planet. We are all thrilled!"

 

[Annie]

Nasa's been taking so many hits, right and left, that it's good to see something important like this getting some press. CNN carried it live this a.m.

 

[onedomino]

Nasa's been taking so many hits, right and left, that it's good to see something important like this getting some press. CNN carried it live this a.m.

Most NASA projects not directly managed by NASA, and not Shuttle related, have been successful. Especially the missions managed by JPL/CIT. Maybe we should shutdown NASA and give all the space research and flight dollars to JPL/CIT, Cornell, and the University of Arizona. They seem to be more competent than NASA.

 

[onedomino]

Who knows? We may be fortunate and land near some ice, or as the lander digs with its robotic arm, we might get super lucky and find some some liquid water. There is water ice near the Martian north pole: http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/odyssey_update_020301.html. And everywhere there is water on Earth, there is life. In approximately nine months, on 05.25.08, this will occur:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/...ies/mars-water/images/primary/phoenix-art.jpg