Solar Power Grid

05.25.08

Shown here is one of the first images taken by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander of one of the octagonal solar panels, which opened like two handheld, collapsible fans on either side of the spacecraft. Beyond this view is a small slice of the north polar terrain of Mars.

The successfully deployed solar panels are critical to the success of the 90-day mission, as they are the spacecraft's only means of replenishing its power. Even before these images reached Earth, power readings from the spacecraft indicated to engineers that the solar panels were already at work recharging the spacecraft's batteries.

Before deploying the Surface Stereo Imager to take these images, the lander waited about 15 minutes for the dust to settle.

This image was taken by the spacecraft's Surface Stereo Imager on Sol, or Martian day, 0 (May 25, 2008).

The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

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Source: NASA - Phoenix - Images

Solar Power Grid Unfurled

05.25.08

Shown here is one of the first images taken by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander of one of the octagonal solar panels, which opened like two handheld, collapsible fans on either side of the spacecraft. Beyond this view is a small slice of the north polar terrain of Mars.

The successfully deployed solar panels are critical to the success of the 90-day mission, as they are the spacecraft's only means of replenishing its power. Even before these images reached Earth, power readings from the spacecraft indicated to engineers that the solar panels were already at work recharging the spacecraft's batteries.

Before deploying the Surface Stereo Imager to take these images, the lander waited about 15 minutes for the dust to settle.

This image was taken by the spacecraft's Surface Stereo Imager on Sol, or Martian day, 0 (May 25, 2008).

The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

This image has been geometrically corrected.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

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Source: NASA - Phoenix - Images

First Look at Martian Arctic Plains

05.25.08

This image, one of the first captured by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander, shows the vast plains of the northern polar region of Mars. The flat landscape is strewn with tiny pebbles and shows polygonal cracking, a pattern seen widely in Martian high latitudes and also observed in permafrost terrains on Earth. The polygonal cracking is believed to have resulted from seasonal freezing and thawing of surface ice.

Phoenix touched down on the Red Planet at 4:53 p.m. Pacific Time (7:53 Eastern Time), May 25, 2008, in an arctic region called Vastitas Borealis, at 68 degrees north latitude, 234 degrees east longitude.

This image was taken shortly after landing by the spacecraft's Surface Stereo Imager.

The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

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Source: NASA - Phoenix - Images

First Look at Martian Arctic Plains

05.25.08

This image, one of the first captured by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander, shows the vast plains of the northern polar region of Mars. The flat landscape is strewn with tiny pebbles and shows polygonal cracking, a pattern seen widely in Martian high latitudes and also observed in permafrost terrains on Earth. The polygonal cracking is believed to have resulted from seasonal freezing and thawing of surface ice.

Phoenix touched down on the Red Planet at 4:53 p.m. Pacific Time (7:53 Eastern Time), May 25, 2008, in an arctic region called Vastitas Borealis, at 68 degrees north latitude, 234 degrees east longitude.

This image was taken shortly after landing by the spacecraft's Surface Stereo Imager.

The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

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Source: NASA - Phoenix - Images

First Look at Martian Arctic Plains

05.25.08

This image, one of the first captured by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander, shows the vast plains of the northern polar region of Mars. The flat landscape is strewn with tiny pebbles and shows polygonal cracking, a pattern seen widely in Martian high latitudes and also observed in permafrost terrains on Earth. The polygonal cracking is believed to have resulted from seasonal freezing and thawing of surface ice.

Phoenix touched down on the Red Planet at 4:53 p.m. Pacific Time (7:53 Eastern Time), May 25, 2008, in an arctic region called Vastitas Borealis, at 68 degrees north latitude, 234 degrees east longitude.

This image was taken shortly after landing by the spacecraft's Surface Stereo Imager.

The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

› Full Resolution

Source: NASA - Phoenix - Images

Phoenix Opens Its Eyes

05.25.08

This image, one of the first captured by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander, shows the vast plains of the northern polar region of Mars. The flat landscape is strewn with tiny pebbles and shows polygonal cracking, a pattern seen widely in Martian high latitudes and also observed in permafrost terrains on Earth. The polygonal cracking is believed to have resulted from seasonal freezing and thawing of surface ice.

Phoenix touched down on the Red Planet at 4:53 p.m. Pacific Time (7:53 Eastern Time), May 25, 2008, in an arctic region called Vastitas Borealis, at 68 degrees north latitude, 234 degrees east longitude.

This is an approximate-color image taken shortly after landing by the spacecraft's Surface Stereo Imager, inferred from two color filters, a violet, 450-nanometer filter and an infrared, 750-nanometer filter.

The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

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Source: NASA - Phoenix - Images

Icy, Patterned Ground on Mars

05.25.08

This image shows a polygonal pattern in the ground near NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander, similar in appearance to icy ground in the arctic regions of Earth.

Phoenix touched down on the Red Planet at 4:53 p.m. Pacific Time (7:53 p.m. Eastern Time), May 25, 2008, in an arctic region called Vastitas Borealis, at 68 degrees north latitude, 234 degrees east longitude.

This is an approximate-color image taken shortly after landing by the spacecraft's Surface Stereo Imager, inferred from two color filters, a violet, 450-nanometer filter and an infrared, 750-nanometer filter.

The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

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Source: NASA - Phoenix - Images

26 May 2008

Deputy Spacecraft Operations Manager Peter Schmitz monitors data receipt from NASA's Phoenix lander in Mars Express Dedicated Control Room, 02:40 CEST, 26 May 2008.

Credits: ESA

Today at 00:57 UTC (02:57 CEST), crucial data recorded by ESA's Mars Express during Phoenix's descent to the Martian surface were successfully received at the European Space Operations Centre.

The European Space Agency today completed a key step in the Agency's ongoing support to NASA's Phoenix mission, when signals from Phoenix recorded by Mars Express were successfully received at ESA's Space Operations Centre (ESOC), Darmstadt, Germany.

The signals were monitored between 23:21 - 23:47 UTC (01:21 - 01:47 CEST 26 May) during the lander's critical entry, descent and landing (EDL) phase, and were received by the European spacecraft via the Mars Express Lander Communications (MELACOM) system.

New friend in the neighbourhood

"Congratulations to our NASA colleagues on a hugely successful landing. The Mars Express team welcomes a new friend in the neighbourhood," said Paolo Ferri, Head of the Solar and Planetary Missions Division at ESOC.

Peter Schmitz (L) and Paolo Ferri ® monitor first receipt of MELACOM data in the Mars Express Dedicated Control Room, 26 May 2008.

Credits: ESA

Confirmation of ESA's support to the landing came in the early morning of 26 May at 00:52 UTC (02:52 CEST), after a 17-minute download transmitted from Mars Express via NASA's Deep Space Network; the data will be downloaded twice again to ensure fidelity.

The data were immediately made available to NASA, and will assist scientists to analyse Phoenix's entry, descent and landing (EDL) performance, comparing the actual to the planned trajectory.

EDL radio frequency sequence recorded by MELACOM. The graph shows pure carrier signal first (no data), then the 8-kbps data signal, and finally the 32-kbps data signal.

Credits: ESA

In the coming days, Mars Express will monitor Phoenix using MELACOM 15 more times; at least one of these will be used to demonstrate and confirm that the ESA spacecraft can be used as a data relay station for NASA, receiving data from the surface and transmitting test commands to the lander

Source: ESA - News

Awesome. It was fun to watch JPL live for the landing and solar power grid deployment and pictures. All is needed is one alien microbe and that will change everything...will this be the mission for such a discovery...so far so good.

No. My understand is that this mission will be able to determine whether the conditions are right for life bu will not be able to detect life itself. For that we may have to wait for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory rover or the European ExoMars rover.

thanks for the reply Waspie. it would be brilliant if it managed to come back to life after the Martian winter,

Camera on Mars Orbiter Snaps Phoenix During Landing

PASADENA, Calif. -- 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.


NASA's Mars Phoenix Lander can be seen para-
chuting down to Mars, in this image captured by
the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment
camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Calech/University of
Arizona

Meanwhile, scientists pored over initial images from Phoenix, the first ever taken from the surface of Mars' polar regions. Phoenix returned information that it was in good health after its first night on Mars, and the Phoenix team sent the spacecraft its to-do list for the day.

"We can see cracks in the troughs that make us think the ice is still modifying the surface," said Phoenix Principal Investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, Tucson. "We see fresh cracks. Cracks can't be old. They would fill in."

Camera pointing for the image from HiRISE used navigational information about Phoenix updated on landing day. The camera team and Phoenix team would not know until the image was sent to Earth whether it had actually caught Phoenix.

"We saw a few other bright spots in the image first, but when we saw the parachute and the lander with the cords connecting them, there was no question," said HiRISE Principal Investigator Alfred McEwen, also of the University of Arizona.


This movie shows the vast plains of the northern
polar region of Mars, as seen by NASA's Phoenix
Mars Lander shortly after touching down on the
Red Planet.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of
Arizona/Texas A&M
› Play video

"I'm floored. I'm absolutely floored," said Phoenix Project Manager Barry Goldstein of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. A team analyzing what can be learned from the Phoenix descent through the Martian atmosphere will use the image to reconstruct events.

HiRISE usually points downward. For this image, the pointing was at 62 degrees, nearly two-thirds of the way from straight down to horizontal. To tilt the camera, the whole orbiter must tilt. Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was already pointed toward the expected descent path of Phoenix to record radio transmissions from Phoenix.

McEwen said, "We've never taken an image at such an oblique angle before."

Monday's tasks for Phoenix include checkouts of some instruments and systems, plus additional imaging of the lander's surroundings.

The Phoenix mission is led by Smith at the University of Arizona with project management at JPL and development partnership at Lockheed Martin, Denver. International contributions come from the Canadian Space Agency; the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland; the universities of Copenhagen and Aarhus, Denmark; Max Planck Institute, Germany; and the Finnish Meteorological Institute. For more about Phoenix, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/phoenix.

JPL manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission for NASA. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, Colo., is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The University of Arizona operates the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera, which was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo.

Media contacts: Guy Webster 818-354-6278
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov

Dwayne Brown 202-358-1726
NASA Headquarters, Washington
dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov

Sara Hammond 520-626-1974
University of Arizona, Tucson
shammond@lpl.arizona.edu

2008-83

Source: NASA - Phoenix - News

Phoenix Makes a Grand Entrance

05.26.08

NASA's Mars Phoenix Lander can be seen parachuting down to Mars, in this image captured by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. This is the first time that a spacecraft has imaged the final descent of another spacecraft onto a planetary body.

From a distance of about 310 kilometers (193 miles) above the surface of the Red Planet, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter pointed its HiRISE obliquely toward Phoenix shortly after it opened its parachute while descending through the Martian atmosphere. The image reveals an apparent 10-meter-wide (30-foot-wide) parachute fully inflated. The bright pixels below the parachute show a dangling Phoenix. The image faintly detects the chords attaching the backshell and parachute. The surroundings look dark, but corresponds to the fully illuminated Martian surface, which is much darker than the parachute and backshell.

Phoenix released its parachute at an altitude of about 12.6 kilometers (7.8 miles) and a velocity of 1.7 times the speed of sound.

The HiRISE, acquired this image on May 25, 2008, at 4:36 p.m. Pacific Time (7:36 p.m. Eastern Time). It is a highly oblique view of the Martian surface, 26 degrees above the horizon, or 64 degrees from the normal straight-down imaging of Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The image has a scale of 0.76 meters per pixel.

This image has been brightened to show the patterned surface of Mars in the background.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

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Source: NASA - Phoenix - Images

Phoenix Footpad Up Close

05.26.08

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander did a small amount of excavation as it touched down on pebbly north polar terrain on the Red Planet, as shown in this close-up view of one of the lander's three footpads.

The footpad appears to have slid a few inches as the lander touched down.

This image was taken by the Surface Stereo Imager shortly after Phoenix landed May 25, 2008.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Texas A&M

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Source: NASA - Phoenix - Images

Phoenix Makes a Grand Entrance

05.26.08

NASA's Mars Phoenix Lander can be seen parachuting down to Mars, in this image captured by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. This is the first time that a spacecraft has imaged the final descent of another spacecraft onto a planetary body.

From a distance of about 310 kilometers (193 miles) above the surface of the Red Planet, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter pointed its HiRISE obliquely toward Phoenix shortly after it opened its parachute while descending through the Martian atmosphere. The image reveals an apparent 10-meter-wide (30-foot-wide) parachute fully inflated. The bright pixels below the parachute show a dangling Phoenix. The image faintly detects the chords attaching the backshell and parachute. The surroundings look dark, but correspond to the fully illuminated Martian surface, which is much darker than the parachute and backshell.

Phoenix released its parachute at an altitude of about 12.6 kilometers (7.8 miles) and a velocity of 1.7 times the speed of sound.

The HiRISE acquired this image on May 25, 2008, at 4:36 p.m. Pacific Time (7:36 p.m. Eastern Time). It is a highly oblique view of the Martian surface, 26 degrees above the horizon, or 64 degrees from the normal straight-down imaging of Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The image has a scale of 0.76 meters per pixel.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

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Source: NASA - Phoenix - Images

Phoenix Opens its Eyes

05.26.08

This image, one of the first captured by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander, shows the vast plains of the northern polar region of Mars. The flat landscape is strewn with tiny pebbles and shows polygonal cracking, a pattern seen widely in Martian high latitudes and also observed in permafrost terrains on Earth. The polygonal cracking is believed to have resulted from seasonal freezing and thawing of surface ice.

Phoenix touched down on the Red Planet at 4:53 p.m. Pacific Time (7:53 p.m. Eastern Time), May 25, 2008, in an arctic region called Vastitas Borealis, at 68 degrees north latitude, 234 degrees east longitude.

This is an approximate-color image taken shortly after landing by the spacecraft's Surface Stereo Imager, inferred from two color filters, a violet, 450-nanometer filter and an infrared, 750-nanometer filter.

The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Texas A&M

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Source: NASA - Phoenix - Images

Good to see everything is going smoothly so far. Australia is the first place on Earth that the data from this rover is recieved, before being relayed to NASA. Just thought everyonne should know that.

The images of the first moon walk were received in Australia too, then transmitted to the rest of the world.

It depends on the time of day the signal is received. The NASA Deep Space Network has three facilities spaced around the world so that they have maximum coverage. One of the receiving stations is indeed in Australia, 40 km southwest of Canberra to be prcise. The other antennae are at Goldstone, California and near Madrid, Spain. Data will be received through all of these facilities at various times.

More on the DSN can be found at their home page, HERE.

NASA Mars Lander Prepares to Move Arm

NASA's Phoenix Lander is ready to begin moving its robotic arm, first unlatching its wrist and then flexing its elbow.

Mission scientists are eager to move Phoenix's robotic arm, for that arm will deliver samples of icy terrain to their instruments made to study this unexplored Martian environment.


The butterfly-like object in this picture is NASA's
Phoenix Mars Lander, as seen from above by
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Calech/University of
Arizona

The team sent commands for moving the arm on Tuesday morning, May 27, to NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for relay to Phoenix. However, the orbiter did not relay those commands to the lander, so arm movement and other activities are now planned for Wednesday. The orbiter's communication-relay system is in a standby mode. NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter is available for relaying communications between Earth and Phoenix.

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter did send 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 kilometer, or 6-mile, crater, but is actually 20 kilometers, or about 12 miles, in front of the crater," said HiRISE principal investigator Alfred S. McEwen of the University of Arizona, Tucson.

HiRISE has taken a new color 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, roughly 1,000 feet, 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," said *** Li, manager of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

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.

Phoenix principal investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona 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 (minus 112 degrees Fahrenheit) in the early morning and a maximum of minus 30 degrees Celsius (minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit) in the afternoon. The average pressure was 8.55 millibars, which is less than a hundredth of the sea level pressure on Earth. The wind speed was 20 kilometers per hour (13 miles 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.

Smith presented a new Surface Stereo Imager view of the American flag and a mini-DVD on the Phoenix's deck, about three feet above the Martian surface. The mini-DVD from the Planetary Society contains a message to future Martian explorers, science fiction stories and art inspired by the Red Planet, and the names of more than a quarter million Earthlings.

The Phoenix mission is led by Smith at the University of Arizona with project management at JPL and development partnership at Lockheed Martin. International contributions come from the Canadian Space Agency; the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland; the universities of Copenhagen and Aarhus, Denmark; Max Planck Institute, Germany; and the Finnish Meteorological Institute. More Phoenix information is at http://www.nasa.gov/phoenix.

Media contacts: Guy Webster 818-354-6278
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov

Dwayne Brown 202-358-1726
NASA Headquarters, Washington
dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov

Sara Hammond 520-626-1974
University of Arizona, Tucson
shammond@lpl.arizona.edu

2008-84

Source: NASA - Phoenix - News

Phoenix Descending with Crater in the Background

05.27.08

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera acquired this image of Phoenix hanging from its parachute as it descended to the Martian surface. Shown here is a 10 kilometer (6 mile) diameter crater informally called "Heimdall," and an improved full-resolution image of the parachute and lander. Although it appears that Phoenix is descending into the crater, it is actually about 20 kilometers (about 12 miles) in front of the crater.

The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

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Source: NASA - Phoenix - Images

Color Image of Phoenix Lander on Mars Surface

05.27.08

This shows a color image from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera. It shows the Phoenix lander with its solar panels deployed on the Mars surface.

The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

Image NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

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Source: NASA - Phoenix - Images

Color Image of Phoenix Heat Shield and Bounce Mark on Mars Surface

05.27.08

This shows a color image from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera. It shows the Phoenix heat shield and bounce mark on the Mars surface.

The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

Image NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

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Source: NASA - Phoenix - Images

Color Image of Phoenix Parachute on Mars Surface

05.27.08

This shows a color image from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera. It shows the Phoenix parachute top attached to the back shell bottom on the Mars surface. In this image, north is down.

The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

Image NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

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Source: NASA - Phoenix - Images

American Flag and mini-DVD attached to deck of Phoenix

05.27.08

This image, released on Memorial Day, May 26, 2008, shows the American flag and a mini-DVD on the Phoenix's deck, which is about 3 ft. above the Martian surface. The mini-DVD from the Planetary Society contains a message to future Martian explorers, science fiction stories and art inspired by the Red Planet, and the names of more than a quarter million earthlings.

The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

Image NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

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Source: NASA - Phoenix - Images

Weather Report for Mars Sol 1

05.27.08

Skies were clear and sunny on Sol 1 on Mars. The temperature varied between minus 112 degrees Fahrenheit in the early morning and minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit in the afternoon. The average pressure was 8.55 millibars, which is less than a 1/100th of the sea level pressure on Earth.

The weather station was activated in the first hour after landing on Mars. Measurements are being recorded continuously.

The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver. The Canadian Space Agency contributed Phoenix's meteorological station. The University of Aarhus in Denmark contributed the telltale on the meteorology mast.

Image Canadian Space Agency/University of Aarhus

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Source: NASA - Phoenix - Images

Protective Film Moves Aside

05.27.08

Relatively warmer daytime temperatures on Mars have allowed the biobarrier -- a shiny, protective film -- to peel away a little more from the robotic arm of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander.

This image shows the spacecraft's robotic arm in its stowed configuration, with the biobarrier unpeeled on landing day, or Sol (Martian day) 0, and the lander's first full day on Mars, Sol 1.

The "elbow" of the arm can be seen at the top center of the picture, and the biobarrier is the shiny film seen to the left of the arm.

The biobarrier is an extra precaution to protect Mars from contamination with any bacteria from Earth. While the whole spacecraft was decontaminated through cleaning, filters and heat, the robotic arm was given additional protection because it is the only spacecraft part that will directly touch the ice below the surface of Mars.

Before the arm was heated, it was sealed in the biobarrier, which is made of a trademarked film called Tedlar that holds up to baking like a turkey-basting bag. This ensures that any new bacterial spores that might have appeared during the final steps before launch and during the journey to Mars will not contact the robotic arm.

After Phoenix landed, springs were used to pop back the barrier, giving it room to deploy.

These images were taken on May 25, 2008 and May 26, 2008 by the spacecraft's Surface Stereo Imager.

The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

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Source: NASA - Phoenix - Images

Zeroing In on Phoenix's Final Destination

05.27.08

This image shows the latest estimate, marked by a green crosshair, of the location of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander. Radio communications between Phoenix and spacecraft flying overhead have allowed engineers to narrow the lander's location to an area about 300 meters (984) long by 100 meters (328 feet) across, or about three football fields long and one football field wide.

During landing, Phoenix traveled across the field of view shown here from the upper left to the lower right. The area outlined in blue represents the area where Phoenix was predicted to land before arriving on Mars. During Phoenix's descent through the Martian atmosphere to the surface of the Red Planet, continuous measurements of the distance the spacecraft traveled enabled engineers to narrow its location further to the circular area outlined in red.

Using radio signals to home in on Phoenix's final location is sort of like trying to find a kitten by listening to the sound of its meows. As NASA's Odyssey spacecraft passes overhead, it receives radio transmissions from the lander. When Odyssey passes overhead again along a slightly different path, it receives new radio signals. With each successive pass, it is able to "fix" the location of Phoenix a little more precisely.

Meanwhile, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has taken actual images of the spacecraft on the surface, enabling scientists to match the lander's location to geologic features seen from orbit.

The large crater to the right is "Heimdall crater," the slopes of which are visible in images of the parachute that lowered Phoenix to the surface, taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment instrument on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The map shown here is made up of topography data taken by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor. It shows exaggerated differences in the height of the terrain.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

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Source: NASA - Phoenix - Images

I ask you...does it get any cooler than that?!?!

Holy Christmas....

These pictures are quite impressive

Orbiter Relays Second-Day Information From NASA Mars Lander

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter successfully received information from the Phoenix Mars Lander Tuesday evening and relayed the information to Earth. The relayed transmission included images and other data collected by Phoenix during the mission's second day after landing on Mars.


This raw, or unprocessed, image was taken by
Phoenix on its second sol, or Mars day, May 27,
2008.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Calech/Univ. of
Arizona

The UHF radio system used by the orbiter to communicate with the lander had gone into a standby mode earlier Tuesday for a still undetermined cause. This prevented sending Phoenix any new commands from Earth on Tuesday. Instead, the lander carried out a backup set of activity commands that had been sent Monday.

NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter is scheduled for relaying commands to the lander on Wednesday morning.

Media contacts: Guy Webster 818-354-6278
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov

Dwayne Brown 202-358-1726
NASA Headquarters, Washington
dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov

Sara Hammond 520-626-1974
University of Arizona, Tucson
shammond@lpl.arizona.edu4

Source: NASA - Phoenix - News

Sigh....Just rain on my parade there Waspie. We were however the first to recieve data from the lander...... so there.

Somehow the long distance image of the Phoenix sitting on that foreign surface brings home the enormity of the accomplishment.

If you were actually sitting in the Phoenix and looking out a window would you be able to see anything or would it be too dark with the sun so far away? Is the sky really pink? Would sound be able to transmit through such a thin atmosphere?

Could we possibly change the density of the atmosphere in the future? It seems like if you released gas there it would continue to hover near the planet even though the gravity is low. If it weighed anything at all it wouldn't float away.

That really is a fantastic shot, amazing stuff.

Oh man, this is just too cool!

I can't wait until Phoenix starts some of the experiments!

NASA's Phoenix Spacecraft Commanded to Unstow Arm

Scientists leading NASA's Phoenix Mars mission from the University of Arizona in Tucson sent commands to unstow its robotic arm and take more images of its landing site early today.

The Phoenix lander sent back new sharp color images from Mars late yesterday. Phoenix imaging scientists made a color mosaic of images taken by the lander's Surface Stereo Imager on landing day, May 25, and the first two full "sols," or Martian days, after landing.


The northern polar plains of Mars can be seen
in approximate true color in this image taken by
NASA's Mars Phoenix Lander.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Calech/University of
Arizona

The panorama, now about one-third complete, shows a fish-eye perspective from the camera, a view from the lander itself all the way to the horizon. Phoenix adjusts its color vision with "Caltargets," calibrated color targets on disks mounted on the landing deck. Its color vision isn't quite like human color vision, but close.

"These images are very exciting to the science team," said the Surface Stereo Imager co-investigator Mark Lemmon of Texas A&M University. "We see the polygons we're looking for, and we're very excited to fill in the context with more site pan images that go beyond the workspace." Images to complete the panorama are planned today and tomorrow, Sols 3 and 4, Lemmon said.

"We appear to have landed where we have access to digging down a polygon trough the long way, digging across the trough, and digging into the center of a polygon. We've dedicated this polygon as the first national park system on Mars -- a "keep out" zone until we figure out how best to use this natural Martian resource," Lemmon said.

Phoenix will use its robotic arm to dig first in another area seen in the panorama, an area outside the preserved polygon.

Robotic arm manager Bob Bonitz of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., explained how the arm is to be unstowed today. "It's a series of seven moves, beginning with rotating the wrist to release the forearm from its launch restraint. Another series of moves releases the elbow from its launch restraints and moves the elbow from underneath the biobarrier."


This image shows a polar projection mosaic of all
data received as of the end of sol 2 from the right
eye of the Surface Stereo Imager (SSI) instrument
on board the Phoenix lander.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/
Texas A&M University

The robotic arm is a critical part of the Phoenix Mars mission. It is needed to trench into the icy layers of northern polar Mars and deliver samples to instruments that will analyze what Mars is made of, what its water is like, and whether it is or has ever been a possible habitat for life.

"Phoenix is in perfect health," JPL's Barry Goldstein, Phoenix project manager, said Wednesday morning, May 28.

The robotic arm's first movement was delayed by one day when Tuesday's commands from Earth did not get all the way to the Phoenix lander on Mars. The commands went to NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as planned, but the orbiter's Electra UHF radio system for relaying commands to Phoenix temporarily shut off. Without new commands, the lander instead carried out a set of activity commands sent Monday as a backup. Images and other information from those activities were successfully relayed back to Earth by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Tuesday evening.

Wednesday morning's uplink to Phoenix and evening downlink from Phoenix were planned with NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter as the relay. "We are using Odyssey as our primary link until we have a better understanding of what happened with Electra," Goldstein said.

The Phoenix mission is led by Peter Smith at the University of Arizona with project management at JPL and development partnership at Lockheed Martin, Denver. International contributions come from the Canadian Space Agency; the University of Neuachatel, Switzerland; the universities of Copenhagen and Aarhus, Denmark; Max Planck Institute, Germany; and the Finnish Meteorological Institute. For more about Phoenix, visit http://www.nasa.gov/phoenix and http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu.

Media contacts: Guy Webster 818-354-6278
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov

Dwayne Brown 202-358-1726
NASA Headquarters, Washington
dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov

Sara Hammond 520-626-1974
University of Arizona, Tucson
shammond@lpl.arizona.edu

2008-87

Source: NASA - Phoenix - News

Phoenix Color Targets

05.28.08

These images of three Phoenix color targets were taken on sols 1 and 2 by the Surface Stereo Imager (SSI) on board the Phoenix lander. The bottom target was imaged in approximate color (SSI's red, green, and blue filters: 600, 530, and 480 nanometers), while the others were imaged with an infrared filter (750 nanometers). All of them will be imaged many times over the mission to monitor the color calibration of the camera. The two at the top show grains 2 to 3 millimeters in size that were likely lifted to the Phoenix deck during landing. Each of the large color chips on each target contains a strong magnet to protect the interior material from Mars' magnetic dust.

The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Texas A&M University

› Full Resolution

Source: NASA - Phoenix - Images

View of Phoenix's surroundings as of Sol 2

05.28.08

This is a cylindrical mosaic of all data, as of the end of sol 2, from the right eye of the Surface Stereo Imager (SSI) instrument on board the Phoenix lander.

The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Texas A&M University

› Full Resolution

Source: NASA - Phoenix - Images

Phoenix's view of Mars as of the end of sol 2

05.28.08

This image shows a polar projection mosaic of all data received as of the end of sol 2 from the right eye of the Surface Stereo Imager (SSI) instrument on board the Phoenix lander.

The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Texas A&M University

› Full Resolution

Source: NASA - Phoenix - Images

False color terrain model of Phoenix workspace

05.28.08

This is a terrain model of Phoenix's Robotic Arm workspace. It has been color coded by depth with a lander model for context. The model has been derived using images from the depth perception feature from Phoenix's Surface Stereo Imager (SSI). Red indicates low-lying areas that appear to be troughs. Blue indicates higher areas that appear to be polygons.

The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Texas A&M University/NASA Ames

› Full Resolution

Source: NASA - Phoenix - Images

Color view to northwest of Phoenix

05.28.08

This approximate color (SSI's red, green, and blue filters: 600, 530, and 480 nanometers) view was obtained on sol 2 by the Surface Stereo Imager (SSI) on board the Phoenix lander. The view is toward the northwest, showing polygonal terrain near the lander and out to the horizon.

The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Texas A&M University

› Full Resolution

Source: NASA - Phoenix - Images

NASA's Phoenix Spacecraft Commanded to Unstow Arm

Updated May 29, 1 a.m. Eastern
Phoenix successfully completed the first day of a two-day process to deploy its robotic arm.

Scientists leading NASA's Phoenix Mars mission from the University of Arizona in Tucson sent commands to unstow its robotic arm and take more images of its landing site early today.

The Phoenix lander sent back new sharp color images from Mars late yesterday. Phoenix imaging scientists made a color mosaic of images taken by the lander's Surface Stereo Imager on landing day, May 25, and the first two full "sols," or Martian days, after landing.


The image on the left shows the robotic arm
"elbow joint" in its stowed position as it appeared
on Sol 1. The image on the right shows the same
area on Sol 3 after the robotic arm completed
commands to move the arm up and away from
the lander deck
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Calech/University of
Arizona

The panorama, now about one-third complete, shows a fish-eye perspective from the camera, a view from the lander itself all the way to the horizon. Phoenix adjusts its color vision with "Caltargets," calibrated color targets on disks mounted on the landing deck. Its color vision isn't quite like human color vision, but close.

"These images are very exciting to the science team," said the Surface Stereo Imager co-investigator Mark Lemmon of Texas A&M University. "We see the polygons we're looking for, and we're very excited to fill in the context with more site pan images that go beyond the workspace." Images to complete the panorama are planned today and tomorrow, Sols 3 and 4, Lemmon said.

"We appear to have landed where we have access to digging down a polygon trough the long way, digging across the trough, and digging into the center of a polygon. We've dedicated this polygon as the first national park system on Mars -- a "keep out" zone until we figure out how best to use this natural Martian resource," Lemmon said.

Phoenix will use its robotic arm to dig first in another area seen in the panorama, an area outside the preserved polygon


The northern polar plains of Mars can be seen
in approximate true color in this image taken by
NASA's Mars Phoenix Lander.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Calech/University of
Arizona

Robotic arm manager Bob Bonitz of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., explained how the arm is to be unstowed today. "It's a series of seven moves, beginning with rotating the wrist to release the forearm from its launch restraint. Another series of moves releases the elbow from its launch restraints and moves the elbow from underneath the biobarrier."

The robotic arm is a critical part of the Phoenix Mars mission. It is needed to trench into the icy layers of northern polar Mars and deliver samples to instruments that will analyze what Mars is made of, what its water is like, and whether it is or has ever been a possible habitat for life.

"Phoenix is in perfect health," JPL's Barry Goldstein, Phoenix project manager, said Wednesday morning, May 28.

The robotic arm's first movement was delayed by one day when Tuesday's commands from Earth did not get all the way to the Phoenix lander on Mars. The commands went to NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as planned, but the orbiter's Electra UHF radio system for relaying commands to Phoenix temporarily shut off. Without new commands, the lander instead carried out a set of activity commands sent Monday as a backup. Images and other information from those activities were successfully relayed back to Earth by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Tuesday evening.


This image shows a polar projection mosaic of all
data received as of the end of sol 2 from the right
eye of the Surface Stereo Imager (SSI) instrument
on board the Phoenix lander.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/
Texas A&M University

Wednesday morning's uplink to Phoenix and evening downlink from Phoenix were planned with NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter as the relay. "We are using Odyssey as our primary link until we have a better understanding of what happened with Electra," Goldstein said.

The Phoenix mission is led by Peter Smith at the University of Arizona with project management at JPL and development partnership at Lockheed Martin, Denver. International contributions come from the Canadian Space Agency; the University of Neuachatel, Switzerland; the universities of Copenhagen and Aarhus, Denmark; Max Planck Institute, Germany; and the Finnish Meteorological Institute. For more about Phoenix, visitt http://www.nasa.gov/phoenix and http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu.

Media contacts: Guy Webster 818-354-6278
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov

Dwayne Brown 202-358-1726
NASA Headquarters, Washington
dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov

Sara Hammond 520-626-1974
University of Arizona, Tucson
shammond@lpl.arizona.edu

2008-87

Source: NASA - Phoenix - News

Keep the posts coming, Waspie. Always good to see your informational postings.

These are fantastic times we live in,Hats off to the people that figured out how and exactly when to get those deployment of the mars lander comeing in at the rate and distance it was.Wow! what minds in play.

You would indeed be able to see, pretty much what the composite color imnages show you in the pictures.

No, you wouldn't survice with your helmet off in such a tenuous atmosphere as Mars has....no sound to speak of can be transmitted in that medium. The atmospheric pressure of Mars is about .01 that of Earth's (+/- 15%), equivalent to the pressure on Earth at 100,000 feet or so. No sound can transmit in that pressure (that we could hear), and we'd be essentially in space at that pressure, with little possibility of even staying conscious for more than about 15-20 seconds....





In theory, it is a possibility...however, it is theoretical, and not practical.
And, if we find any evidence at all of any life on Mars, it's a no-no...pragmatic or not.

NASA Phoenix Mars Lander Puts Arm and other Tools to Work

TUCSON, Ariz. - NASA's Mars lander is returning more detailed images from the Martian surface and is now preparing its instruments for science operations.

Phoenix transmitted a 360-degree panorama of its frigid Martian world, freed its nearly 8-foot robotic arm, tested a laser instrument for studying dust and clouds, and transmitted its second weather report on Wednesday evening.

"We've imaged the entire landing site, all 360 degrees of it. We see it all," said Phoenix principal investigator Peter Smith, University of Arizona, Tucson. "You can see the lander in a fish-eye view that goes all the way out to the entire horizon "We are now making plans for where to dig first, and what we'll save for later."


This panoramic view taken by NASA's Phoenix
Mars Lander shows the sweeping plains of the
Martian polar north.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Calech/University of
Arizona

Commands were communicated to Phoenix to rotate the robotic arm's wrist to unlatch its launch lock, raise the forearm and move it upright to release the elbow restraint.

"We're pleased that we successfully unstowed the robotic arm. In fact, this is the first time we have moved the arm in about a year," said Matthew Robinson of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. The arm deployment brings the Phoenix mission to a significant milestone.

"We have achieved all of our engineering characterization prerequisites, with all the critical deployments behind us," said JPL's Barry Goldstein, Phoenix project manager. "We're now at a phase of the mission where we're characterizing the science payload instruments. That's a very important step for us."

After a health check that tests the arm at a range of warmer and colder temperatures, the titanium and aluminum arm will soon be tasked with its first assignment: to use its camera to look under the spacecraft to assess the terrain and underside of the lander.

The robotic arm will later trench into the icy layers of northern polar Mars and deliver samples to instruments that will analyze what this part of Mars is made of, what its water is like, and whether it is or has ever been a possible habitat for life.

Another milestone for the mission included the activation of the laser instrument called light detection and ranging instrument, or lidar.

"The Canadians are walking on moonbeams. It's a huge achievement for us," said Jim Whiteway Canadian Science lead from York University, Toronto. The lidar is a critical component of Phoenix's weather station, provided by the Canadian Space Agency. The instrument is designed to detect dust, clouds and fog by emitting rapid pulses of green laser-like light into the atmosphere. The light bounces off particles and is reflected back to a telescope.

"One of the main challenges we faced was to deliver the lidar from the test lab in Ottawa, Canada, to Mars while maintaining its alignment within one one-hundredth of a degree," said Whiteway. "That's like aiming a laser pointer at a baseball at a distance from home plate to the center field wall, holding that aim steady after launch for a year in space, then landing," he added.

Lidar data shows dust aloft to a height of 3.5 kilometers (2 miles). The weather at the Phoenix landing site on the second day following landing was sunny with moderate dust, with a high of minus 30 degrees Celsius (minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit) and a low of minus 80 (minus 112 degrees Fahrenheit).

The Phoenix mission is led by Smith at the University of Arizona with project management at JPL and development partnership at Lockheed Martin, Denver. International contributions come from the Canadian Space Agency; the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland; the universities of Copenhagen and Aarhus, Denmark; Max Planck Institute, Germany; and the Finnish Meteorological Institute. For more about Phoenix, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/phoenix.

Media contacts: Guy Webster 818-354-6278
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov

Dwayne Brown 202-358-1726
NASA Headquarters, Washington
dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov

Sara Hammond 520-626-1974
University of Arizona, Tucson
shammond@lpl.arizona.edu

2008-89

Source: NASA - Phoenix - News

Sweeping Martian Plains

05.29.08

This 360-degree view from NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander shows the spacecraft's solar arrays, lander deck and the Martian polar landscape beyond. The hummocky terrain has a network of troughs and very few rocks, typical of polar surfaces here on Earth.

Phoenix's Surface Stereo Imager captured the images making up this mosaic on the first and third martian days, or sols, of the mission (May 26 and 28, 2008). The spacecraft is capable of taking color, high-resolution photos, but its first priority is to scan its surroundings with black-and-white, lower-resolution images like these.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Unviersity of Arizona

› Full Resolution

Source: NASA - Phoenix - Images

Fish eye view of horizon and lander

05.29.08

North is up (12 o'clock position) in this seam-corrected 360 degree polar projection using downsampled images from sols 1 and 3. Seam boundaries show different times of day, e.g. 9 o'clock (west) position shows scoop of RA,
7 o'clock view shows the MET mast with telltale (mast contains three temperature sensors).
Note hummocky terrain with troughs, typical of Earth polar terrain where we would see permafrost and ice beneath surface.


The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

› Full Resolution

Source: NASA - Phoenix - Images

Mars Weather Report - Sol 2

05.29.08

The weather at the Phoenix landing site on Sol 2 was sunny with moderate dust, with a high of - 30 degrees Celsius (-22 degrees Fahrenheit) and a low of -80 (-112 degrees Fahrenheit).

The Phoenix MET lidar took its first measurement around noon on Sol 2. Lidar data shows dust lofted up to a height of 3.5 kilometers (2 miles). The SSI camera measured an atmospheric optical depth of around 0.5. This corresponds to a fairly dusty atmosphere and appears to be a significant increase in dustiness compared to Sol 1.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Canadian Space Agency

› Full Resolution

Source: NASA - Phoenix - Images

A Fairy-Tale Landscape

05.29.08

Fun, fairy-tale nicknames have been assigned to features in this mosaic of images showing the workspace reachable by the robotic arm of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander. For example, "Sleepy Hollow" denotes a trench and "Headless" designates a rock.

A "National Park," marked by purple text and a purple arrow, has been set aside for protection until scientists and engineers have tested the operation of the robotic scoop. First touches with the scoop will be to the left of the "National Park" line.

Scientists use such informal names for easy identification of features of interest during the mission.

In this view, rocks are circled in yellow, other areas of interest in green. The images were taken by the lander's 7-foot mast camera, called the Surface Stereo Imager.

The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

› Full Resolution

Source: NASA - Phoenix - Images