Red Planet D-Day For Phoenix Lander -Will the Search for Life Continue?

NASA scientists are counting down the days to May 25, which will either be all their Christmases at once or worse than a dismissal letter wrapped around a hand grenade.  It's the day the Phoenix Lander descends to the Martian surface.  That Phoenix will arrive on is certain - the question is in how many pieces.

Recent course corrections put Phoenix on course for the red planet with only two million miles left to go.  That might sounds like a lot, but considering it's already traveled nearly half a billion miles, another 2,000,000 is barely down the block.  On final approach Phoenix will be using direct-descent landing thrusters to touch down, rather than the parachutes and balloons used by the recent Rover missions.

This pyrotechnic process allows the mission to carry far more weight but with an increased "all or nothing" risk factor.  The lander will hurtle into the atmosphere at thirteen thousand miles per hour, which is slightly faster than you normally survive hitting something, and must the fire rocket motors correctly to slow down enough to survive contact with the ground.  Less than half of such attempts have succeeded in the past, and unlike its mythical namesake this Phoenix can'Rt be reborn should it go down in flames.

The designated target area has been subjected to closer scrutiny than Iron Man recently, with an entire library of High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) images from the Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been studying the Martian surface for the last two years.  These have selected a relatively rock-free landing pad, while gamma ray spectroscopy reveals the possible presence of water.

But there's nothing like going and checking for yourself, which is where the Phoenix uses its heavy-duty lifting capacity.  A giant robotic arm, taller than Shaquille O' Neall in pumps, while get down and dirty digging a meter into the surface.  Scientists suspect, hope and probably pray that these subterranean samples will reveal the presence of the most valuable substance in the cosmos - water.

If Phoenix finds any, the role of in science, exploration and the future of the human race can expect a major promotion.

The Phoenix won't be looking for evidence of life on but rather traces of organic compounds in the baked and moistened samples, which would be a possible indicator of conditions favorable for life, either now or in a distant past.

If organic compounds are present, they're more likely to have been preserved in ice. That's why NASA is aiming for the planet's high northern latitudes, where ice is almost certainly lurking just beneath the surface.

Only about six inches of soft red soil should cover the ice, and so the digger shouldn't have to probe too deeply. The ice is expected to be as hard as concrete, and a drill on the scoop will help gather frozen samples. Some dirt and ice samples will be baked and their vapors analyzed. Other soil samples will be mixed with water stored onboard and the soup examined by microscopes.

"We're really going there just to understand whether the conditions might have been hospitable for microbial life at some point," said the University of Arizona's William Boynton, lead scientist for the oven experiment.

Even if organic molecules pop up, they could be from incoming meteorites, Boynton noted. "It is important, I think, to keep in mind that we are just looking for organic molecules to see if the conditions are right that they could survive," he said, "and that we aren't really going to be making any inference about whether these molecules are indicative of life."

Posted by Luke McKinney.

Source links:

Phoenix Flying to
Official Phoenix NASA page

Comments

[Barrie O'Leary]

Oh, this is so exciting! It is scarcely a week to go until this mission lands. The thought that something goes wrong is too much to anticipate. But I do not just want to read the rsults after the event in Daily Galaxy, I want to be literally aboard. Is there, perchance, a secial website I can
enter to share the exhilerating experience as it happens? Please advise.

[Bob]

Great , they are just looking for organic molecules ! Whew ! I was worried I thought NASA was moving a little too fast there for a second.
Question , why doesn't NASA take a giant leap forward and send a spacecraft to Mars containing the latest promising techniques for finding life using the knowledge and mistakes they made from the Viking project ? Dr. Levin claims he found life already so why not settle the argument
Maybe I'm wrong , but I think the ESA is going to send one to Mars to look for life soon or they already did ? And while I think of it why don't we just send a human expedition to Mars instead of going back to the Moon first ?
There is a pessimistic opinion that NASA wants to go back to the Moon first and then explore Mars because their bureacracy and their friends, the major contractors will be getting their big fat paychecks for 20 years anyway so they don't really care if they send humans to explore Mars because it is all about maintaining their buraucracy.
I just read and article in Science about increased probabilities for a major asteroid strike and this confirms this above view concerning NASA. According to that article Michael Griffin and NASA refuse to even consider spending money on tracking and developing methods of diverting asteroids. The article quotes a former Apollo astronaut who has begun a quest on his own for this funding for asteroid tracking and diversion . Congress recently requested a study like this by NASA.
New studies have included considering counting the asteroids which land in the oceans and the conclusions concerning asteroids which explode above the ground and leave no crater. The 1908 asteroid which exploded over Siberia may only have been 30 meters and not 300 meters in diameter according to the article and new statistics indicate 1 of these could possibly hit every 50 years or so on average.
New evidence shows the Clovis civilization 12,900 years ago may have been wiped out by a relatively small asteroid air burst because of new evidence of iridium and high carbon found in various strata levels related to that period.
Many say if we go back to the Moon we will never send a human expedition to Mars and maybe NASA really doesn't care.
They were satisfied to spend 30 years in LEO and doing the easy things with the shuttle.
The way NASA funding is they stand a good chance of never going to Mars and some believe this will happen.
NASA canceled many projects like the X33 due to budget cuts but the big contractors didn't care because they knew they would keep getting their paychecks from the next new contract.
Where are the NASA types of old who had all that esprite de core and persevered i.e. like during the Apollo 13 mission when it wasen't just about a paycheck.
The shuttle accident might not have happened if the contractor management had listened to the advice of the NASA engineers when it showed a piece of foam fell off and may have hit the wing and they suggested they employ a spy satellite to take a look at possible damage or keep the crew on the ISS until it was proven fit.
Some manager made the decision not to pay attention to it because a piece had flew off on other missions and nothing happened.
I am confused because its hard to understand what is really happening because of the politics factor. Pessimistic political savvy types say don't be naieve just follow the money.
But I think it wasen't always that way in the good old days of NASA.

[Simon Vanden Bussche]

Barrie, have a look at http://twitter.com/marsphoenix
the Phoenix team is regularly posting updates there.

[Dacotah woodard]

THERES TRUTH UPON THE EARTH AND GALAXY.WONDER THAT PONDERS UPON ONES THOUGHTS, TRUTH WILL BE REVEAL TO THOSE WHO SEEK AND EXPOSE THE TRUTH OF LIFE.IF ITS THOUGHT OF THEN MOST LIKELY ITS PRESENT