In the countdown thread:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kelfazin
So the lander uses rockets to retard its rate at landing, but then it doesn't move. Won't the rockets contaminate the soil it's analyzing?
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(Might as well keep the mission discussion here.)
University of Michigan press release:
U-M scientists simulate the effects of blowing Mars dust on NASA's Phoenix lander
Quote:
Gusting winds and the pulsating exhaust plumes from the Phoenix spacecraft's landing engines could complicate NASA's efforts to sample frozen soil from the surface of Mars[...]
Renno and U-M doctoral candidate Manish Mehta said there are several concerns about the Phoenix thrusters. They said the supersonic exhaust jets could: buffet the spindly, three-legged probe during the critical final seconds before landing; scour the landing site and strip it of loose soil; and possibly contaminate the martian soil with hydrazine, the liquid fuel used in the thrusters.
"These experiments are mainly run to provide insight to the Phoenix team, so they know what to expect and can somewhat prepare for it," said Mehta, who will use the results in his doctoral dissertation. U-M aerospace engineering senior Neal Rusche and other students from Renno's Multidisciplinary Engineering Design course also are on the team.
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