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Originally Posted by samkent
I doubt a lander under meters of dry ice would be much use either.
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Except that Phoenix can complete a useful mission in a few months. We now expect years of operation froma rover. Could a rover be designed to oeprate at high laatitides and do useful work in a few months? yes it could, but it would not be another MER but a nw vehicle. And it could not carry the Phoenix science suite or address the imporant questions that Phoenix is designed to answer.
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It sounds like they already know it's there so is the mission justified?
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have you actually read the mission goals? There is a lot we don't know about soil chemistry, mineralogy, texture, surface properties, activity, meteorology, soil physics etc.
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Originally Posted by samkent
Picture this. Day two after the landing ...
They dig a hole and scoop the soil into the experiment chamber 1. Turn on the equipment and bingo! positive for water ice.
Is there a point to continue with the mission? Should they dig a second hole 4 feet from the first? I wonder what they would find? Duh maybe water ice???
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The mission is about more than finding water ice. There are a lot we don't know about soil chemistry, mineralogy, texture, grain surface properties, soil-atmosphere activity, meteorology, atmospheric physics. We don't knwo the texture and archiecture of the area at resolutions of less than 30 cm. We don't know the soil phsyics, a rather important issue for future rover operations.
You need multiple sites to characterise regolith properties. There may be considerable small scale variability, feratures such as patterned ground that need invesigation.
Phoenix is cheap, well thought out, and long over due. I wish you would read more about the mission before criticisng.
Jon