Phoenix Mars Lander: Mission ends after 125 Sols

[JonathanBelles]

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.

Phoenix will enter the top of the Martian atmosphere at almost 13,000 mph. In seven minutes, the spacecraft must complete a challenging sequence of events to slow to about 5 mph before its three legs reach the ground. Confirmation of the landing could come as early as 7:53 p.m. EDT.

"This is not a trip to grandma's house. Putting a spacecraft safely on Mars is hard and risky," said Ed Weiler, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Internationally, fewer than half the attempts have succeeded."

Rocks large enough to spoil the landing or prevent opening of the solar panels present the biggest known risk. However, images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, detailed enough to show individual rocks smaller than the lander, have helped lessen that risk.

"We have blanketed nearly the entire landing area with HiRISE images," said Ray Arvidson of Washington University in St. Louis, chairman of the Phoenix landing-site working group. "This is one of the least rocky areas on all of Mars and we are confident that rocks will not detrimentally impact the ability of Phoenix to land safely."

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, 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. "Phoenix will land farther north on Mars than any previous mission," said Phoenix Project Manager Barry Goldstein of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

"The Phoenix mission not only studies the northern permafrost region, but takes the next step in Mars exploration by determining whether this region, which may encompass as much as 25 percent of the Martian surface, is habitable," said Peter Smith, Phoenix principal investigator at the University of Arizona, Tucson.

The solar-powered robotic lander will manipulate a 7.7-foot arm to scoop up samples of underground ice and soil lying above the ice. Onboard laboratory instruments will analyze the samples. Cameras and a Canadian-supplied weather station will supply other information about the site's environment.

One research goal is to assess whether conditions at the site ever have been favorable for microbial life. The composition and texture of soil above the ice could give clues to whether the ice ever melts in response to long-term climate cycles. Another important question is whether the scooped-up samples contain carbon-based chemicals that are potential building blocks and food for life.

The Phoenix mission is led by Smith with project management at JPL. The development partnership is with Lockheed Martin, Denver. International contributions are from the Canadian Space Agency; the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland; the universities of Copenhagen and Aarhus, Denmark; the Max Planck Institute, Germany; and the Finnish Meteorological Institute.

For more about the Phoenix mission on the Web, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/phoenix

[brunota2003]

This is going to be a really interesting mission! I am looking forward to seeing the meteorological aspects of it, in daily temperature, pressure, and wind speeds.

Perhaps like the Mars Rovers, who were also only "3-month long missions", this one will continue for years, too.

[HURAKAN]

I'm extremely excited about this mission. It will probably top Spirit and Opportunity if everything goes well.

[brunota2003]

Speaking of the Rovers...has anyone heard any recent news on them?

[HURAKAN]

Speaking of the Rovers...has anyone heard any recent news on them?

Still there, working, but their end is getting closer.

Spirit: Only 1/3 of available sunlight makes its way to the solar panels because of the accumulating dust over the past years.

Opportunity: Robotic arm becoming more troublesome.

http://marsrovers.nasa.gov/home/

[HURAKAN]

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoen ... index.html





The targeted landing site for NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander is at about 68 degrees north latitude, 233 degrees east longitude in the Martian arctic.

On Earth, those coordinates specify a location in northwestern Canada.

Canada supplied the Phoenix spacecraft's Meteorological Station.

The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

[HURAKAN]

Meteorological Station

The Meteorological Station, or MET, will record the daily weather during the course of the Phoenix Mission. It is equipped with a variety of temperature and pressure sensors to do so. It is also equipped with LIDAR, or Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging, which will be used to find the amount and number of dust particles in the air. It was built by the Canadian Space Agency and a team headed by York University — and including contributions from the University of Alberta, University of Aarhus (Denmark), Dalhousie University, Finnish Meteorological Institute, Optech, and the Geological Survey of Canada — will oversee the science operations of the station, which was built by Canadarm maker MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. of Richmond, B.C.

The LIDAR laser is passive Q-switched Nd:YAG laser with wavelength of 1064 nm. It operated at 100 Hz with a pulse width of 10 ns. The laser can operate from 90° to -15° refering to the surface of the lander. The scattered light is received by a silicon avalanche photodiode.

All types of backscattering (for example The Rayleigh scattering) are the basic effect used for the lidar. With the delay between the pulse and the light reflected by the particles in the atmosphere the distance is calculated. Additional information can be obtained from backscattered light. The the polarization makes it possible to discriminate between ice and dust. The line width is a indicator for the brownian motion of the particles and therefore a indicature for the temperature.

The Lidar will be capable to get information about the structure of the planetary boundary layer by ivestigating the disipation of dust, ice, fog and clouds in the atmosphere, and therfore creating an 3D model of the atmosphere of the landing site. The wind velocity and the the temperatures will be monitored over time and show the evolution of the atmosphere over time. Dust and ice contribution in the atmosphere and the formation of dust devils are in the science focus of the instrument.

[HURAKAN]

Science Channel To Broadcast Red Planet Landing Live May 25

Silver Spring MD (SPX) May 15, 2008
Science Channel will broadcast live coverage of mankind's next major step in Mars exploration with MARS LIVE: THE PHOENIX LANDS premiering Sunday, May 25, 2008, from 7-9 PM (ET) and 4-6 PM (PT). Originating LIVE from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. and the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, the program will give viewers a first look at photos sent back from the Mars surface.
There will also be exclusive, in-depth analysis and perspective of the mission's historic scientific implications from NASA Chief Scientist Dr. James B. Garvin, as well as firsthand reactions from scientists including Phoenix Mars Mission Principal Investigator Peter Smith.

"We're incredibly proud that Science Channel will cover this extraordinary live event and offer our audience exclusive analysis of NASA's historic mission," said Clark Bunting, president and general manager, Discovery Emerging Networks. "Science Channel's mandate is to celebrate and understand the full spectrum of science, so we're excited to offer our viewers in-depth commentary of this exciting achievement as events unfold."

In what is designed to be mankind's best effort to date to find life on Mars, the rover has covered 422 million miles over the past nine months. Its mission is to help answer questions about life-supporting conditions on the planet by analyzing ice from the northern Martian arctic using a suite of onboard, state-of-the-art instruments.

Dr. James B. Garvin is the world's leading expert on the surface of Mars. Throughout the broadcast, Dr. Garvin will guide viewers as the Phoenix Lander approaches the surface of Mars, and provide commentary in the critical moments when NASA loses radio contact with the rover. As the first pictures return from the Mars surface, Dr. Garvin will lend valuable perspective on what scientists are seeing and may find, and can speak to what conditions the Phoenix is facing on Mars.

Following MARS LIVE: THE PHOENIX LANDS, Science Channel looks back at recent missions to the red planet with encore presentations of REVEALING MARS at 9 PM (ET)/6 PM (PT) and ROVING MARS at 10 PM (ET)/7 PM (PT). REVEALING MARS walks viewers through NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's (M.R.O.) scientific payload and the high-tech instruments used to capture stunning images of Mars.

The M.R.O. was launched in 2005. ROVING MARS immerses viewers in the journeys of Spirit and Opportunity, two rovers that explored the red planet on remote, unmanned NASA missions. Spirit and Opportunity launched in June 2003 and landed on Mars in January 2004.

This year, Discovery Communications is partnering with NASA to help commemorate its 50th anniversary with a variety of events and programs celebrating space exploration. Collaborations include:

- Science Channel's Second Annual SPACE WEEK premiering July 6-11

- Science Matters!, a series of nationwide school assemblies led by past and current astronauts and stressing science literacy

- Discovery Channel's WHEN WE LEFT EARTH: THE NASA MISSIONS premiering consecutive Sundays, June 8, 15 and 22 at 9 PM (ET/PT)

- An extensive online experience for users to delve deeper into NASA's history and future at http://www.discovery.com/nasa and http://www.sciencechannel.com

MARS LIVE: THE PHOENIX LANDS (wt) is produced in partnership with Discovery Channel Canada. Anne-Marie Varner is executive producer for Discovery Channel Canada. John Grassie is executive producer for Science Channel.

[JonathanBelles]

Well that stinks. the Science channel is on the other TV that my parents will be watching and I wont have access to. :/

[HURAKAN]

Phoenix Lands on Mars in:

4 Days

20 Hours

41 Min

00 Sec

[HURAKAN]

Phoenix Spacecraft on Course for May 25 Mars Landing

PASADENA, Calif. -- With three days and 3 million miles left to fly before arriving at Mars, NASA's Phoenix spacecraft is on track for its destination in the Martian arctic.

"The latest calculation from our navigation team shows the center of the area where we're currently headed lies less than eight miles from the center of our target area," said Barry Goldstein, Phoenix project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "We may decide on Saturday that we don't need to use our final opportunity for fine tuning the trajectory Phoenix is on. Either way, we will continue to monitor the trajectory throughout Saturday night, on the off chance we need to execute our contingency maneuver eight hours before entry."

The spacecraft is in fine health.

"All systems are nominal and stable," said Ed Sedivy, Phoenix spacecraft program manager for Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, which built the spacecraft. "We have plenty of propellant, the temperatures look good and the batteries are fully charged."

The spacecraft is closing in on the scariest seven minutes of the mission.

On Sunday, shortly after the annual 500-mile race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Phoenix will be approaching Mars at about 12,750 miles per hour, a speed that could cover 500 miles in 2 minutes and 22 seconds. After it enters the top of the Martian atmosphere at that velocity, it must use superheated friction with the atmosphere, a strong parachute and a set of pulsing retrorockets to achieve a safe, three-legged standstill touchdown on the surface in just seven minutes.

The earliest possible time when mission controllers could get confirmation from Phoenix indicating it has survived landing will be at 4:53 p.m. Pacific Time on Sunday (7:53 p.m. Eastern Time). Of 11 previous attempts that various nations have made to land spacecraft on Mars, only five have succeeded.

Phoenix will land farther north on Mars than any previous mission, at a site expected to have ice-rich permafrost beneath the surface, but within reach of the lander's robotic arm.

"Last instructions were given to the science team at our final meeting at the University of Arizona Tuesday," said Phoenix Principal Investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, Tucson. "This week, we are conducting our dress rehearsal before opening night on Sunday." The science team is slowly adjusting to working on Mars time, in which each day lasts 24.66 hours, in preparation for a demanding mission.

Smith said, "We are ready to robotically operate our science lab in the Martian arctic and dig through the layers of history to the ice-rich soil below."

Phoenix is equipped to study the history of the water now frozen into the site's permafrost, to check for carbon-containing chemicals that are essential ingredients for life, and to monitor polar-region weather on Mars from a surface perspective for the first time.

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 and http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu .

[HURAKAN]

Phoenix Lands on Mars in:

2 Days

03 Hours

04 Min

05 Sec

Phoenix Mission Briefings
May 24, 3:00 p.m. (12:00 p.m. Pacific)
May 25, 3:00 p.m. (12:00 p.m. Pacific)
May 25, NASA TV coverage begins 6:30 p.m. (3:30 p.m. Pacific)
May 25, Landing on Mars at approximately 7:53 p.m. (4:53 p.m. Pacific)
› NASA TV on the Web
› Schedule of landing events
› Landing Press Kit

[HURAKAN]

Phoenix Landing Events Schedule
May 21-26, 200805.14.08 Unless otherwise noted, the location for news briefings and commentary are NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Times are Pacific Daylight and some are subject to change.

Thursday, May 22
-- News briefing, 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Saturday, May 24
-- News briefing, noon
-- Trajectory correction maneuver opportunity (TCM6), 7:46 p.m.

Sunday, May 25
NOTE: The times below for the Phoenix spacecraft events on May 25 are for a nominal scenario. Remaining navigational adjustments before May 25 could shift the times by up to about half a minute. In addition, the times for some events relative to others could vary by several seconds due to variations in the Martian atmosphere and other factors. For some events, a "give or take" range of times is given, covering 99 percent of possible scenarios from the atmospheric entry time. For events at Mars, times are listed in "Earth-receive time" (ERT) rather than "spacecraft event time" (SCET). This means the listed time incorporates the interval necessary for radio signals traveling at the speed of light to reach Earth from Mars. On landing day, May 25, the two planets are 275 million kilometers apart (171 million miles), which means it takes the signal 15 minutes and 20 seconds to reach Earth. For some spacecraft events, engineers will not receive immediate radio confirmation.

-- Trajectory correction maneuver opportunity (TCM6X), 8:46 a.m.
-- News briefing, noon
-- Begin non-commentary live television feed from JPL control room, 3 p.m.
-- Begin commentated live television feed from JPL control room, 3:30 p.m.
-- Propulsion system pressurization, 4:16 p.m.
-- Begin "bent-pipe" relay relay (continuous transmission of Phoenix data as it is received) through NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft to Goldstone, Calif., Deep Space Network station, 4:38 p.m.
-- Green Bank, W. Va., radio telescope listening for direct UHF from Phoenix, 4:38 p.m.
-- Cruise stage separates, 4:39 p.m.
-- Spacecraft turns to attitude for atmospheric entry, 4:40 p.m.
-- Spacecraft enters atmosphere, 4:46:33 p.m.
-- Likely blackout period as hot plasma surrounds spacecraft, 4:47 through 4:49 p.m.
-- Parachute deploys, 4:50:15 p.m., plus or minus about 13 seconds.
-- Heat shield jettisoned, 4:50:30 p.m., plus or minus about 13 seconds.
-- Legs deploy, 4:50:40 p.m., plus or minus about 13 seconds. -
- Radar activated, 4:51:30 p.m.
-- Lander separates from backshell, 4:53:09 p.m., plus or minus about 46 seconds.
-- Transmission gap during switch to helix antenna 4:53:08 to 4:53:14 p.m.
-- Descent thrusters throttle up, 4:53:12 p.m.
-- Constant-velocity phase starts, 4:53:34 p.m., plus or minus about 46 seconds.
-- Touchdown, 4:53:52 p.m., plus or minus about 46 seconds.
-- Lander radio off 4:54:52 p.m., plus or minus about 46 seconds.
-- Begin opening solar arrays (during radio silence) 5:13 p.m.
-- Begin NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter playback of Phoenix transmissions recorded during entry, descent and landing, 5:28 p.m. However, data for analysis will not be ready until several hours later.
-- Begin Europe's Mars Express spacecraft playback of Phoenix transmissions recorded during entry, descent and landing, 5:30 p.m. However, data for analysis will not be ready until several hours later.
-- Post-landing poll of subsystem teams about spacecraft status, 5:30 p.m.
-- Mars Odyssey "bent-pipe" relay of transmission from Phoenix, with engineering data and possibly including first images, 6:43 to 7:02 p.m. Data could take up to about 30 additional minutes in pipeline before being accessible. If all goes well, live television feed from control room may show first images as they are received. The first images to be taken after landing will be of solar arrays, to check deployment status.
-- News briefing, 9 p.m.

Monday, May 26
-- News briefing, 11 a.m.

Tuesday, May 27, through Friday, May 30
Daily news briefings at 11 a.m.

Anticipated pace of Mars surface operations
-- If operations proceed relatively smoothly, the first eight to 10 days after landing will be a "characterization phase" of checking out and understanding the performance of the spacecraft's power and thermal systems, as well as the robotic arm and other instruments.
-- At the end of the characterization phase (date tba), the first sample of surface soil will be delivered to the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer onboard Phoenix.
-- Analysis of soil from the surface in both the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer and in the Microscopy, Electrochemistry and Conductivity Analyzer will likely take 10 to 15 days if all processes go well. After that, each additional sampling cycle will reach a deeper subsurface level, in increments of about two to three centimeters. At each different layer, collecting and analyzing samples is expected to take 10 to 15 days, barring operational difficulties.
-- How soon the digging reaches the expected icy layer will depend on how far below the surface that layer lies. Estimates in advance of landing range from two to five centimeters. If the ice is at the deeper end of that range, the first analysis of an icy sample could be in July or later.

[HURAKAN]

Phoenix Closing in on Mars
05.24.08 -- As of 11 a.m. EDT on Saturday, May 24, Mars Phoenix Lander has 1.46 million miles still to travel in its 422-million-mile flight to Mars. The next Phoenix news briefing is at 3 p.m. Eastern time Saturday.

[JonathanBelles]

It's on and as long as my parents arent home im gonna watch it on the big screen.!

Edit: that didnt last long, now im on NASA TV

[lurkey]

It's May 25th 7:00 EDT, folks. . . .

beat by Fact789 . . .

ETA: to link to live NASA video online. Also, it is live on NASA's Second Life site (sorry, I don't have a link)

[brunota2003]

Separation was successful! 4 minutes until entry, 11 until touchdown.

[brunota2003]

Parachutes deployed good, ground velocity is decreasing. Heat Shield trigger confirmed.

[brunota2003]

Radar reliable. Lander separation detected.

[brunota2003]

It is on the surface of Mars.

As the guy said:

PHOENIX HAS LANDED

There are some happy people in NASA right now