The Phoenix Mars Mission has almost reached Mars, and the probe will land tomorrow: Sunday, May 25. This is one of the new generation of Mars missions, including the wildly successful robotic rovers and the orbiting Mars surveyor probe. From the Phoenix website, Phoenix

may provide important answers to the following questions: (1) can the Martian arctic support life, (2) what is the history of water at the landing site, and (3) how is the Martian climate affected by polar dynamics?

To answer these questions, Phoenix uses some of the most sophisticated and advanced technology ever sent to Mars. A robust robotic arm built by JPL digs through the soil to the water ice layer underneath, and delivers soil and ice samples to the mission’s experiments.

If all goes according to plan, Phoenix will land at 6:36 PM CDT, so keep an eye out. I will try to post an update when it is known whether the probe has landed successfully or not.

Posted by Matthew R. Francis under Science News |