NASA - Phoenix Probe Ready for Mars Mission - VOA Story

NASA scientists have unveiled details of the space agency's plans to pierce the icy surface of Mars, near its north pole. The mission is designed to find evidence of water or life on the red planet.

At a Washington news conference this week NASA scientists discussed the upcoming Phoenix mission to Mars.

The probe is scheduled for launch in the predawn hours of August third and will take 10 months to reach its target.

Project Manager Barry Goldstein explains what happens next. "On May 25th, 2008 the fun begins. We separate from the crew stage. We're traveling at about 12,600 miles an hour. We take up most of that energy with the heat shield, which is at the bottom the entry vehicle. We take up about 94 percent of the energy as we come in. We drop a parachute."

Unlike previous Mars probes that bounced to the surface, this one has thrusters that ignite, and cushion the landing.

Goldstein further explains, "Basically what we are dealing with is, we're dealing with a system that is coming into the planet at 12,600 miles an hour, screaming into the planet and slowing down to basically zero inside seven minutes."

Once the dust settles the solar arrays on the Phoenix deploy. The camera springs up into place, followed by instruments used to collect atmospheric data. The robotic arm on Phoenix scoops up soil samples and drops them into a sort of oven for analysis.

That is done by remote by Peter Smith's team at the University of Arizona.

I see this mission as a stepping stone towards the search for life on other planets. We're hoping to find a place that we consider really a habitable zone on Mars. And to me if we can find that out, it will be a tremendous success on this mission."

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• NASA
• Phoenix
• Probe
• Mars
• Space
• science

[sky5564]

heres an idea lets like not fuck up the planet were already on then we dont have to live on mars

[prm2188]

Wouldn't surprise me if Mother Earth released her own 'bug spray' and got rid of man-kind. Hopefully long after I am dead.

[ILoveDominikaDetko]

I do Not like pessimism.

Sit and wait is deadly for all life we know so far, there are important things to do ....

1. Mankind needs to expand in Space to survive, specially the comic nature.

2. not important

3. more less then not important ?

But Do not forget to tell God, he needs to celebrate his promised Judgment Day on earth with out us, cos we will settle down on mars , everyone pack up we are going out for mars-invasion soon.

[Barbiebratzgal123]

the only problem is its a one way trip :(

[Oscar847]

lmao dickhead

[minihern]

nerh erh , fuk youooh,

[minihern]

Go and live in a starwars movie you fool. Youll never go to mars or the moon.

[tailsy]

cool :D mars is awesome

[plumisland1964]

hey mini cock hern- $200 mil. is about 14 seconds worth of iraq wartime if you werent counting you fucking idiot. at least we are looking for signs of life and not death, could be some long lost relatives mini cock !

[Oscar847]

fuk you!

[minihern]

wat a load a shite. for 200 million $ wat a joke. it looks fukin fake as well. ibet it crashed and theyve just took pictuers of the desert again. nasa u r a bag of shit, but i guess them sad scientists need jobs dont they. sad old men takin pictures of fukin rocks

[alliancesuxftw]

It landed today