Elite / Frontier Phoenix Mars Lander - something to keep an eye on

[Steve O B Have]

On the 25th of May NASAs Phoenix Mars lander is slated to land on Mars in the polar region. Landing will be a pretty hairy proposition as it with approach the polar region at around 13,000MPH, use "heat-generating atmospheric friction to slow down, heating the landers aero shield to close the temperature of the sun.

Once the lander reaches around 900MPH they will deploy a parachute (still gets me that there is another planet close by with atmosphere thick enough to use parachutes) down to 250MPH and they jettison the heat shield. Using radar the lander then decides when to jettison the chute and it then freefalls from 3,200 feet and fires engines to land at 5MPH and lands on 3 legs!!!! Three legs? Who thought that up? Why not 4, surely that is more stable...

The biggest threats to the spacecraft are rocks "large enough to spoil the landing or prevent opening of the solar panels". However, Ray Arvidson of Washington University in St Louis, chairman of the Phoenix landing-site working group, assured: "We have blanketed nearly the entire landing area with HiRISE images. This is one of the least rocky areas on all of Mars and we are confident that rocks will not detrimentally impact the ability of Phoenix to land safely."

Source:http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/05/14/phoenix_update/

Anywho - should be interesting to see if it works or if it is another Beagle

For me the coolest bit of kit on the lander is the SSI (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/spacecraft/ssi.html) or Surface Stereo Imager that can produce high res stereo images:

Situated atop an extended mast, SSI will provide images at a height two meters above the ground, roughly the height of a tall person. SSI simulates the human eye with its two optical lens system that will give three-dimensional views of the arctic plains. The instrument will also simulate the resolution of human eyesight using a charged-coupled device that produces high density 1024 x 1024 pixel images. But SSI exceeds the capabilities of the human eye by using optical and infrared filters, allowing multispectral imaging at 12 wavelengths of geological interest and atmospheric interest.

Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/spacecraft/ssi.html

Link to the NASA mission page: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/main/index.html

 

[Darkman]

It's all very interesting - I subscribe to Space.com newsletter and they've published some interesting articles on it.

 

[Adrena1in]

Three legs? Who thought that up? Why not 4, surely that is more stable...

No, three is more stable. Have you ever seen a 3-legged table or chair which rocks on an uneven surface?

 

[Steve O B Have]

No, three is more stable. Have you ever seen a 3-legged table or chair which rocks on an uneven surface?

Ah this is very true - I'd have to say tho that I have fallen off a 3 legged stool more often than a 4 legged chair. I'm assuming that the legs have some level of shock absorption included in their design and as such would be able to adjust the length individually to maintain a stable footing. Still I see your point about the 3 legs - simple, less moving parts and less to fail, always a good thing when the mechanic is 250mil kms away.

 

[DraQ]

On the 25th of May NASAs Phoenix Mars lander is slated to land on Mars in the polar region. Landing will be a pretty hairy proposition as it with approach the polar region at around 13,000MPH, use "heat-generating atmospheric friction to slow down, heating the landers aero shield to close the temperature of the sun.

Sounds like usual re-entry fare. Rather mild one too.

Three legs? Who thought that up? Why not 4, surely that is more stable...

Three legs guarantee stable landing position on uneven, but reasonably horizontal terrain. Four don't.

 

[Alien]

Didn't they already land a rover on mars?

 

[Steve O B Have]

Didn't they already land a rover on mars?

Two even that are still working. Spirit landed Jan 4th 2004 and Opportunity on Jan 25th 2004. They had a projected operating time of 90 days but have totally blown away expectations and their mission perameters have been pushed out till 2009.

 

[Alien]

I thought they had, I also seem to remember one crashed/dissappeared didn't it?

Just clicked on the beagle 2 link in the first post

 

[Steve O B Have]

T-minus 6 days and counting - I'd say there will be some seriously sleepless nights for the next week on this one.

Where is it now?

Using the JPL Solar System Simulator by Nasa - http://space.jpl.nasa.gov/

 

[Steve O B Have]

3 days to go.

Since the last update it has traveled some 4654 Mill Km and is hurtling along at around 71,531 km per hr. That's pretty cool by my books.

It is supposed to land at around 8pm Arizona time which makes it around midnight here - not entirely sure if I'll be staying up for it but it could be an interesting thing to keep an eye on.

Personally I'm really keen on them being successful - every time one of these missions fails the politicians start waving their cheque books and lamenting the money spent - I for one have both fingers and toes crossed.

Here is a rather over dramatized video of the landing procedure - http://www.space.com/php/video/player.php?video_id=080514-pheonix-landing

I will see if there is going to be anywhere where we can watch this online.

 

[Steve O B Have]

You can watch the landing here:

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

 

[Steve O B Have]

Well - it was a successful landing!!!!

"A signal confirming the lander had reached the surface was received at 2353 GMT on 25 May (1953 EDT; 0053 BST on 26 May). "

The first pictures:

 

[Steve O B Have]

Here is a nice colourised version from Nasa. They have some funky software that matches grey scales to some colour swatches that they photograph before they send the spaceship away and then use the same swatches on mars to get a colour comparison.

 

[Steve]

Looks like a nice day there, which is more than can be said for London

 

[Steve O B Have]

Looks like a nice day there, which is more than can be said for London

Aye 11C and kacking down with rain - boo

 

[Sir.Tj]

Aye 11C and kacking down with rain -
boo

Nothing like a great British bank holday eh?

 

[Alien]

Who keeps sending these annoying probes at me ?
No I don't want double glazing
No i'm not interested in a free holiday
No I have'nt got a timeshare apartment
No i'm not interested in the sun life over 50's plan

Can't an alien enjoy a martian summers bank holiday without you lot next door sending me your hi tech lawnmowers !

 

[Steve O B Have]

I thought this was pretty cool - it's a photo of the mars lander decending by parachute taken from an orbiter - crazy when you think about the distances involved.

 

[Alien]

joking aside this is the coolest mars mission yet

 

[Stefan Mars]

I was actually up watching it live on NASA TV (as it was broadcast on the net). Essentially everything went to perfect for them that it was almost boring to watch.

And I felt sorry for the woman from NASA's pr department that was hosting the show. No sane person should ever put engineers in front of a camera in order to interview them, they just do not have the skills

Still, Phoenix made it down. Congrats to NASA, now get on with the science.