* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: The Phoenix lander

Blobrana · L

NASA's Phoenix Mission Faces Survival Challenges.
In a race against time and the elements, engineers with NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander mission hope to extend the lander's survival by gradually shutting down some of its instruments and heaters, starting today.

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Blobrana · L

NASA pulling plug on Mars lander
After five months of digging in the Martian soil, NASA is shutting down key instruments aboard the Phoenix spacecraft to conserve power.

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The Phoenix Mars Lander's robotic arm successfully delivered soil into oven six of the landers thermal and evolved-gas analyser, or TEGA, on Monday, Oct. 13, or the 137th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.
The delivery to oven six is a bonus round for Phoenix, as the mission goal requirement of filling and analysing soil in at least three of the ovens has already been satisfied. Six of eight ovens have been used to date.
TEGAs tiny ovens heat the soil to as high as 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit, which is about 1,000 degrees Celsius. The labs mass spectrometer, then smells and analyses the gases derived from heating the soil. Mission scientists will continue to research and analyse the soil samples in the coming months, long after Phoenix stops operating on the surface.

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Blobrana · L

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander weathered its first dust storm on the Red Planet this past weekend, though the dust did lower the lander's solar power and put the brakes on some of its planned activities.

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Blobrana · L

Looks like the weather is starting to get unfriendly for Phoenix. According to an entry in the Phoenix blog, a dust storm has blotted out enough of Phoenix' sunlight that the lander had to "hunker down for the weekend until the storm clears, taking minimal observations to conserve power." Apparently the storm was expected to clear up over the weekend (how's that for convenient timing?)

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Blobrana · L

As the UA-led Phoenix Mars Lander mission enters its final stages, it is clear that this mission has paved the way for further exploration of the Red Planet.
Carla Bitter, education and public outreach officer for NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander, said that changes in the Martian climate have begun to limit the capabilities of the Mars Lander and will soon lead to its termination.

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Phoenix Lander Digs And Analyses Soil As Darkness Gathers
Scientists are conducting preliminary analysis of this soil, nicknamed Galloping Hessian. The soil piqued their interest because it may contain a high concentration of salts, said Diana Blaney, a scientist on the Phoenix mission with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. As water evaporates in arctic and arid environments on Earth,

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Blobrana · L

After more than four months on the arctic plains of the red planet, NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander's days are finally numbered. As the sun begins to set for the frigid Martian winter, the spacecraft will lose its energy supply, freeze and eventually fall into a mechanical coma from which it will likely never wake up.

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Mars mission lands in Mississauga
Science buffs were taken on a celestial journey at the Central Library Thursday night.
Through the eyes of Peter A. Taylor, from York University's Centre for Research in Earth and Space Science, about three dozen people gathered in the Noel Ryan Auditorium to hear how Canadians contributed to the Phoenix Lander and the 2007 NASA Scout mission to Mars.
The lecture is part of the Royal Canadian Institute's (RCI) lecture series that brings Canada's top scientists to the public to talk about their work.
Taylor, who has worked on numerical modelling, wind tunnel and field experiments shared stories, pictures and revealed detail and insight on the exploration. He also fielded questions from the curious attendees.

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