Phoenix Mars Lander
Between Mission Concept and Mission Success, There is One Important Word: How
NASA's Phoenix spacecraft successfully landed in the northern polar region of Mars. Radio signals received at 7:53:44 p.m. Eastern Time, May 25, confirmed the Lockheed Martin-built Phoenix Mars Lander had survived its difficult final descent and touchdown 15 minutes earlier.
The mission will seek to answer questions about the northern polar region of Mars and help resolve broader questions about the planet. The key questions Phoenix will address concern water and conditions that could support life.
Phoenix will dig down to the icy layer and examine soil in place at the surface, at the icy layer and in between. It will scoop up samples for analysis by its onboard instruments. One key instrument will check for water and carbon-containing compounds by heating soil samples in tiny ovens and examining the vapors that are given off. Another will test soil samples by adding water and analyzing the dissolution products. Cameras and microscopes will provide information by surveying the landscape. A weather station will provide information about atmospheric processes in an arctic region where a coating of carbon-dioxide ice comes and goes with the seasons.
The mission’s three main science objectives are:
- Study the history of water in all its phases.
- Determine if the Martian arctic soil could support life.
- Study Martian weather from a polar perspective.
The University of Arizona, Tucson, leads the Phoenix mission. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Phoenix Mars Lander for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C.
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