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ACSM Bulletin online
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ACSM Bulletin | June 2008| #233
Phoenix begins search for life beyond Earth
—by Marc Kaufman
“Phoenix has landed!” The spacecraft Phoenix landed safely on Mars May 26, making a hazardous soft landing on the planet’s far north with all its scientific systems intact and ready to begin an intensive new search for life beyond Earth.
The touchdown was the first successful soft landing on the Red Planet—using a parachute and thrusters rather than protective air bags—since the twin Viking missions in 1976. In all, six of 11 similar attempts by the United States, Russia, and England ended in failure, so the Phoenix team awaited with enormous apprehension the outcome of the spacecraft’s approach and landing.
Like the Viking landers, Phoenix is designed to look for organic material and other signs that life has existed on Mars, or could exist on the planet. Unlike the two rovers that have been exploring the Martian surface for nearly five years, Phoenix is built to stay in one place and use its robotic arm to dig into the soil and ice. The vehicle is equipped with several miniature chemistry labs to analyze the material it digs up.
The lander touched down further north on Mars than any previous lander. NASA scientists think the frozen water on or near the surface may tell them whether the minerals and organic compounds needed for life as we know it exist, or have ever existed, on the planet.
Throughout the descent and landing, NASA engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory were receiving data on the spacecraft’s progress 15 minutes after events occurred. Transmissions were sent from Phoenix to the orbiting Mars Odyssey spacecraft, then relayed back to Earth at the speed of light over the 171 million miles between the planets.
The 900-pound, three-legged Phoenix lander, which cost $457 million and traveled a circuitous path of 423 million miles over almost 10 months to reach Mars, carried on its journey a mini-DVD created by the Planetary Society called “Visions of Mars.” It holds a library of science fiction stories and art, as well as the names of more than 250,000 people. The DVD, featuring the likes of Carl Sagan, Arthur C. Clarke and Ray Bradbury, is made of material designed to last for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.
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