13-May-2008, 09:58 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 11,476
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Phoenix Mission Ready For Mars Landing (May 13)
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Phoenix will enter the top of the Martian atmosphere at almost 13,000 mph. In seven minutes, the spacecraft must complete a challenging sequence of events to slow to about 5 mph before its three legs reach the ground. Confirmation of the landing could come as early as 7:53 p.m. EDT, 4:53 p.m. MST.
"This is not a trip to grandma's house. Putting a spacecraft safely on Mars is hard and risky," said Ed Weiler, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Internationally, fewer than half the attempts have succeeded."
Rocks large enough to spoil the landing or prevent opening of the solar panels present the biggest known risk. However, images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, detailed enough to show individual rocks smaller than the lander, have helped lessen that risk.
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NASA Phoenix Mission feature: Intense Testing Paved Phoenix Road to Mars (May 9)
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When NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander descends to the surface of the Red Planet on May 25, few will be watching as closely as the men and women who have spent years planning, analyzing and conducting tests to prepare for the dramatic and nerve-wracking event known as EDL - Entry, Descent and Landing. For after all their hard work, they know that landing on Mars is not a walk in the park. Less than 50 percent of all previous lander missions have made it safely to the surface.
[...]
Here are descriptions of five examples of problematic hardware and resolutions resulting from the extensive work done by the Phoenix engineering and science team. - Radar [...]
- Parachute [...]
- Motors [...]
- Scoop [...]
- Stowaway carbon [...]
Goldstein said, "I can't guarantee success. We are in the business of taking risks, doing things that are very difficult. However, I am confident that we have a world-class team that has dug as deep as it could to find any problems."
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NASA Phoenix Mission
University of Arizona Phoenix Mars Mission
A little over 12 days to landing
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