Phoenix to Touch Down Tomorrow (Sunday)

[VideoJinx]

Welpz I'de like to have NON skewed information..


@ sub, maybe theres intelligent life existing there today..

 

[Majin_You]

As Jinx's thread isn't actually anything about the Phoenix landing, I've edited its title and re-opened it. As I said there, I apologize for the mix-up.

 

[Optimus Prime]

According to CNN.

Great success.

 

[VideoJinx]

Shows a countdown until it lands

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/main/index.html

WTF this isn't the 50's!~~ why are the pics in black and white????????????????????????????????? ( They've been edited )

 

[SS4 Gogeta]

Most of the pics so far seem kinda boring. But one I find interesting is this one.
http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/230000main_SS000EFF896228773_10CA8R8M1.jpg

I d like to see a higher res, color version. There is something that stands out to me and Id like to get a better look at it.

See if you can find what it is

"Bowling Pin"

 

[MC]

PASADENA, Calif. - NASA's newest outpost in the solar system is a polygon-cracked terrain in Mars' northern polar region believed to hold a reservoir of ice beneath.

Hours after the Phoenix Mars Lander softly landed Sunday in the Martian arctic plains, it dazzled scientists with the first-ever glimpse of the Red Planet's high northern latitudes.

A flood of images sent back by Phoenix revealed a landscape similar to what can be found in Earth's permafrost regions — geometric patterns in the soil likely related to the freezing and thawing of ground ice.

"This is a scientist's dream, right here on this landing site," principal investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, Tucson said in a post-landing news conference.

Phoenix landed on Mars after a 10-month, 422 million-mile journey. After a week checking out its science instruments, the lander will begin a 90-day digging mission to study whether the northern polar region possesses the raw ingredients needed for life to emerge.

Phoenix joins the twin rovers on the Martian surface, which have been exploring the equatorial plains since 2004. Unlike the mobile rovers, Phoenix was designed to stay in one spot and dig trenches in the soil.

Early indications show the lander is healthy, said Barry Goldstein, project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The images confirm the lander unfurled its solar panels, hoisted its weather mast and unwrapped the protective covering of its 8-foot-long robotic arm. It'll be several days before the arm will be unstowed.

"Everything just worked like a charm," said Goldstein, who kept up a JPL tradition by passing out bags of lucky peanuts on landing day.

Mission control erupted in cheers when a radio signal from Phoenix was detected after a hair-raising plunge through the atmosphere that required the lander to slow itself down from over 12,000 mph to a 5 mph touchdown using a combination of friction, parachute and thrusters.

Mission managers pumped their fists and hugged one another after the confirmation signal was received.

"They will be remembered forever that they are the first people to explore the polar region of Mars. There's no telling what discoveries would be seen over the next 90 days," said JPL director Charles Elachi.

It's the first successful soft landing on Mars since the twin Viking landers touched down in 1976. Rovers Spirit and Opportunity used a combination of parachutes and cushioned air bags to bounce to the surface four years ago.

Phoenix avoided the fate of another polar explorer, the Mars Polar Lander, which crashed into the Martian south pole after prematurely shutting off its engines in 1999. Phoenix inherited the hardware of a lander that was canceled after the Polar Lander disaster and carried similar instruments flown on the ill-fated 1999 mission.

Phoenix's descent was nearly flawless. The only unexpected turn occurred when it opened its parachute seven seconds later than planned, causing the spacecraft to settle slightly downrange from the bull's-eye target, said Ed Sedivy, program manager at Lockheed Martin Corp., which built the spacecraft.

Phoenix planted its three legs in a broad, shallow valley littered with pebble-size rocks that should not pose any hazard to the spacecraft, project managers said.

"I know it looks a little like a parking lot, but that's a safe place to land. There's not any big rocks," Smith said.

During its prime mission, Phoenix will dig through layers of soil to reach the ice, believed to be buried inches to a foot deep. It will study whether the ice melted during a time in Mars' recent past and will analyze soil samples for traces of organic compounds, which would be a possible indicator of conditions favorable for primitive life. Phoenix is not equipped to detect past or present alien life.

The $420 million Phoenix mission is led by University of Arizona and managed by JPL.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080526/ap_on_sc/phoenix_mars;_ylt=As4uraukAe02O6AbJXvWvyys0NUE

 

[Sonic the Vampire]

UofA? Holy cow, awesomeness (it isn't exactly ASU but it's close enough to where I live that I can feel some of the awesomeness from here). I hope we get to see a human land on Mars at some point in my lifetime... Unfortunately, sparing some absolutely devestating nuclear attack, or some imminent Earth-ending threat revealing itself, there's not likely any chance they're going to get enough funding together to ever attempt something as risky as a seven year trip to another planet. I'd love to see us start setting up a base out there though... Gives our generation a project to work on.

 

[Zeonix]

Our intention is to have a manned mission to Mars. I'm thinking that's our primary reason for setting up shop on the Moon in 20XX (I forgot the date), barring some other as of yet undisclosed reason in the way of Moon city ruins or alien contact.

Those are always on the table, people.

 

[sub]

Yeah, I was under the impression that all of this was not only important to find out if there was ever life on Mars, but to actually prepare us for sending a man to Mars. It would be an absolute shame if we don't accomplish this feat sometime within the next 100 years.

 

[wheres_]

How long would it take a shuttle (or whatever they put people in) to get to mars from year? Like years? How many?

 

[sub]

I'm glad the landing was successful.

This is a bit unrelated, but I hope I'll be able to visit the moon, as a vacation trip, once in my lifetime. :3 Space tech is evolving more and more, I wouldn't be surprised if it would actually be possible.

Get rich and you might be able to pay the Russian Space Agency for that chance. I know that right now, their in dire need of money and are taking people into space if they pay them an extraordinary amount of money. It's not that much of a leap to think that the next step is for them to people to the moon. It's kind of cool if you think about it, tourism to space already exists thanks to the Russians (ironic, too. Who'd have thought that it would be the Russians taking rich Americans/Europeans into space and not NASA?)

 

[ZeroNightmare]

If you had any brains at all jinx you would know that the deceptacons were ultimately the reason for the first missions failure.

 

[sub]

http://www.cjreport.com/news/3874/phoenix-mars-lander-may-have-uncovered-ice.html.

I believe Huzzahs may be in order

 

[Zeonix]

Huzzah !