'7 Minutes Of Terror' - Mars Phoenix Lander Landing On Sunday

[The Fonz]

I can't tell, how far above ground are these pics being taken? Are they ground level?

[photon]

The camera is about 5-6 feet of the surface I think they said, that tall one looks like a panorama sewn together, and the blue rock one looks like the bottom of that panorama.

[metal_geek]

Here is the same image with the degree markers on it. The cameras are all calibrated so you can figure out the position and size of an object based on these markings.

It's awsome really.. me and my 4 year old listened to the whole thing and he wanted to go out tonight and set up the telescope so we can see it

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VOLCANO CLASSIC SOLID VALVE

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by arsenal

ok.. but why? do we have blue/ green rocks on earth? .

Rock with copper or cobalt will often have green or blue tints.

[HelloHockeyFans]

I don't know about you guys but Mars looks almost as boring as Edmonton...

[troutman]

Good landing site - no big boulders.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ph...20080525c.html

"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.

"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.

[metal_geek]

Originally Posted by HelloHockeyFans

I don't know about you guys but Mars looks almost as boring as Edmonton...

ROFL.. they sent it to the most boring looking place as possible on purpose.

Mars and Edmonton were neck for a long time, but the cost of hobo stab insurance for the Edmonton landing made it cheaper to goto mars..
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LovelyWendie99

[troutman]

[metal_geek]

They were long by quite a bit. I don't think they were to worried, they didn't correct the trajectory the last 2 chances that had.. Was prolly an if "it any broke don't fix it" kinda thing.. but I dunno. Makes the spirit landing look all the more impressive..



I can't wait for them to start diggin. What I wouldn't give for them to reach out and scoop up a big ole scoop full of bacteria!!
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Rubbi

[Locke]

That CGI Graphic the Dicovery Channel had going made the whole thing look way too easy.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by Locke

That CGI Graphic the Dicovery Channel had going made the whole thing look way too easy.

I was thinking the same thing. As soon as I saw that they planned to land it with rockets in free fall, I really didn't think it was going to work out to well. Glad I was wrong, it was pretty fun to watch the whole thing unfold.

[T@T]

I thought they wanted to land this thing on the polar ice? wasn't the idea that if there was some form of micro life it most likely would be trapped in the ice?
This area doesn't look any different than where the rovers are cruising.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by T@T

I thought they wanted to land this thing on the polar ice? wasn't the idea that if there was some form of micro life it most likely would be trapped in the ice?
This area doesn't look any different than where the rovers are cruising.

They expect there is ice just under the surface.

[photon]

And a picture of the descent! VERY cool!



http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ph...HX_Lander.html

[MrMastodonFarm]

Amazing images, keep 'em coming guys.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by troutman

They expect there is ice just under the surface.

What is just under the surface, troutman?

A gentle brush, some light or heavy digging?

[The Fonz]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

A gentle brush, some light or heavy digging?

I thought I'd heard somewhere that they said it should only be inches.


But then again, I also thought today was friday. So take it with a grain of salt.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

What is just under the surface, troutman?

A gentle brush, some light or heavy digging?

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ph...botic-arm.html

The RA will be 2.35 meters (just under 8 feet) long with an elbow joint in the middle, allowing the arm to trench about 0.5 meters (1.6 feet) below the martian surface, deep enough to where scientists believe the water-ice soil interface lies. At the end of the RA is a moveable scoop, which includes ripper tines (sharp prongs) and serrated blades. Once icy soil is encountered, the ripper tines will be used to first tear the exposed materials, followed by applying the serrated blades to scrape the fractured soil. The scoop will then be run through the furrows to capture the fragmented samples, ensuring enough sample mass for scientific study on the lander platform.

A similar RA developed for the Mars Polar Lander was tested at Death Valley in 2000 and successfully dug a 10-inch trench in just under 4 hours. The extremely hard soil conditions at Death Valley are similar to those expected at Phoenix's martian arctic landing site.

[McG]

I heard that there is only 89 days until this portion of mars freezes over...what happens to the machine at that point? is that it? or can it work again in spring?

[Save Us Sutter]

From what I've read it's pretty much guaranteed to be dead in the spring though there is always a chance it could re-awaken.

Covered in frozen carbon dioxide all winter (over a meter IIRC). Plus no sunlight up there during those months. Not good for a solar-powered machine!

I'm sure someone here knows the specifics better than me though.