* Astronomy

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RE: The Phoenix lander

Blobrana · L

The reddish-beige sky was clear, temperatures reached a high of 30 degrees and a low of 80, and winds were out of the northeast at 20 kilometres an hour.
A Canadian weather station on board the U.S. Phoenix probe made history Tuesday with its first report from the Martian arctic. The $37-million station was activated within an hour of the landing on Sunday evening, but the information wasn't relayed to an orbiting satellite and then back to Earth until Monday night.

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Colour Image of Phoenix Parachute on Mars Surface
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Image NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

Phoenix Landing Site, Labelled
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Image NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

Blobrana · L

A British space expert yesterday described the Phoenix Mars probe's successful landing as a "massive step forward" in the quest to establish whether life can exist on the Red Planet.
Anu Ojha, director of education and space communication at the National Space Centre in Leicester, said the first pictures show a good overview of the terrain, but added "the real science has yet to begin".
The probe, which touched down at 12.53am UK time, will use a robotic arm to explore vast amounts of frozen water thought to lie a few centimetres beneath the topsoil surface, checking for evidence of extraterrestrial life.

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Blobrana · L

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter sent back spectacular first images of the landed Phoenix from orbit, views from the Phoenix lander of where it will work for the next three months, and a preliminary weather report.
A newly processed image from the high-resolution camera known as HiRISE on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows a full-resolution view of the Phoenix parachute and lander during its May 25 descent, with Heimdall crater in the background.

"Phoenix appears to be descending into the 10 kilometre crater, but is actually 20 kilometres in front of the crater" - Alfred S. McEwen.

HiRISE has taken a new colour image of Phoenix on the ground about 22 hours after it landed. It shows the parachute attached to the back shell, the heat shield and the lander itself against red Mars. The parachute and lander are about 300 meters apart.
Commands to be sent to the lander Wednesday morning include taking more pictures of the surroundings and making the first movements of the mission's crucial robotic arm.
A covering that had shielded the arm from microbes during its last few months before launch had not fully retracted on landing day, May 25, but it moved farther from the arm during the following day.

"The biobarrier had relaxed more and allows more clearance, but it was not a major concern either way" - Fuk Li.

Phoenix Digging Area

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During the next three months, the arm will dig into soil near the lander and deliver samples of soil and ice to laboratory instruments on the lander deck. Following today's commands, its movements will begin with unlatching the wrist, then moving the arm upwards in a stair-step manner.
Peter Smith was delighted with new images of the workspace.

"The workspace is ideal for us because it looks very diggable. We're very happy to see just a few rocks scattered in the digging area."

The Phoenix weather station, provided by the Canadian Space Agency, was activated within the first hour after landing on Mars, and measurements are now being recorded continuously. The data from the first 18 hours after landing have been transmitted back to the science team, and they have provided a weather report. The temperature ranged between a minimum of minus 80 degrees Celsius in the early morning and a maximum of minus 30 degrees Celsius in the afternoon. The average pressure was 8.55 millibars. The wind speed was 20 kilometres per hour, out of the northeast. The skies were clear. More instruments will be activated over the coming days, and the weather report will expand to include measurements of humidity and visibility.

Source NASA

Blobrana · L

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This image was taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter of the landing site where the Phoenix Lander had eventually settled down.
Credit NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

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The Landed is the bright dot; the dark blob near the bottom of the image was created by the Lander's heat shield which impacted at high speed.
Credit NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Blobrana · L

A radio glitch between the Phoenix Mars Lander and a Mars orbiter has delayed the start of planned science experiments on the red planet.

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Fresh images sent back by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander during its first full day operating in the Martian northern polar region showed most of its science instruments in good health, mission scientists said.
The one snag on the lander occurred when the protective sheath around the trench-digging robotic arm failed to unwrap all the way after touchdown and now covers the arm's elbow joint.

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Credit NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

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A telescopic camera in orbit around Mars caught a view of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander suspended from its parachute during the lander's successful arrival at Mars Sunday evening, May 25.
The image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter marks the first time ever one spacecraft has photographed another one in the act of landing on Mars.

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The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, run from The University of Arizona, made history just before NASA's Phoenix Lander, run at the UA, touched down yesterday.
The HiRISE camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured the lander hanging from its parachute during its descent through the Martian atmosphere.

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Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took this image as the Mars Phoenix Lander parachute deployed.

Credit NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

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