NASA TV Live: Phoenix Mars Lander Arrives Today

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Discussion Overview

The thread discusses the arrival of the Phoenix Mars Lander, including its mission details, live coverage, and personal connections to participants. The conversation spans various aspects of the mission, including technical concerns, emotional responses, and speculative ideas about Mars' environment and potential for life.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested
  • Meta-discussion

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express excitement about the live coverage and personal connections to the mission, highlighting the emotional impact of the event.
  • Concerns are raised about hydrazine contamination from the thrusters and its implications for the mission.
  • Participants discuss the lander's landing accuracy and its proximity to the projected ground zero, with some expressing curiosity about the exact distance.
  • There are questions regarding the lander's ability to survive in polar conditions, particularly regarding battery drainage and potential damage to equipment.
  • Speculation arises about the possibility of capturing images of dust devils and the implications of static electricity on the lander's operations.
  • Some participants debate the choice of landing site, suggesting that a temperate region might have been more suitable for the potential discovery of liquid water.
  • Discussion includes the potential for future missions to explore other regions of Mars, such as the Tharsis region, and the challenges posed by complex terrain.
  • Participants share links to images and resources related to the mission, including a Mars overlay for Google Earth.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a mix of excitement and concern regarding the mission, with no clear consensus on the best landing site or the implications of the lander's position. Multiple competing views on the mission's objectives and outcomes remain present throughout the discussion.

Contextual Notes

Participants mention various assumptions about the lander's operational capabilities and the environmental conditions on Mars, which are not fully resolved. The discussion reflects a range of perspectives on the mission's significance and potential findings.

B. Elliott
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Here's the original thread in the General Astronomy section... https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=236811

NASA TV will also be broadcasting the coverage from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In the mean time they're having astronauts show what life is like of the ISS... neat personal perspective... http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

Here's two informative Youtube videos detailing the mission...



I'm hoping that there won't be much hydrazine contamination form the thrusters. Dig deep!
 
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A lot of my friends at UA are involved with it and they've got their fingers crossed!
 
Cheers for the NASA link; I'll be sure to watch!
 
T-9 minutes!
 
And she's landed! :biggrin:
 
I've got a young friend at UA in the astronomy program, and I've yet to get feedback from him. His mom was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, so he's got a lot more to worry about than this project, but he is a fire-ball.
 
Alright!

Even though I'm not involved, after following the program for so long, ... I shed a little tear.:approve:
 
If anyone has any connections (moose, Turbo-1), when you speak with your friends, see if you can find out how far off the lander is from the projected ground zero. I know it's well within, just wondering exactly how off it is.

*edit* Nevermind, Odyssey hasn't even flown over yet. They'll probably announce it with the post-landing conference anyway.
 
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Yep! Odyssey will clue us in pretty soon, and we should get a check-up on the lander's status, then the UA team will begin directing the data-gathering for the science end of the mission. Being at a polar latitude, the lander won't be able to survive like the rovers due to the lack of solar flux. We have a relatively narrow window for science.
 
  • #10
True. I'm hoping we'll be able to actually snap a picture of a dust devil if it comes fairly close... hopefully not too close though, considering what I've been reading about their possible static electrical factor.
 
  • #11
http://fawkes1.lpl.arizona.edu/images/gallery/md_309.jpg
 
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  • #12
Barren, yet beautiful!

Current image archive...
http://fawkes1.lpl.arizona.edu/images.php?gID=309&cID=7
 
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  • #13
I'm watching the show on the Science Channel now.
 
  • #14
So who else has a new wallpaper?
 
  • #15
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  • #16
Well, even if Jupiter and Saturn are gaseous, there are certain features that have been around for a while and that can be marked.
 
  • #17
True, I just find it a bit odd that they would develop maps for planets where the only notable features are eddies... which are constantly moving and changing positions. The bands pretty much do stay put though. I would have expected maps for Mercury or Venus at least.
 
  • #18
Well done NASA
very well done.

Now I hope that some definitive evidence of life will be found

Just to mess up the religions :)
 
  • #19
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  • #20
It seems the 'footprints' are more likely to be a side effect of the thruster blast as the landers foot pads don't have that kind of shape. Here's a high res picture for comparison...

http://claudelafleur.qc.ca/images/Phoenix-lander.jpg

Even though the media seems to be overly concerned with the why the lander is off from it's mark, I still think it's incredible that it's as close as it is. I actually think it's amazing that this is the only aspect that didn't follow with 100% accuracy... comparing it to previous lander missions.

Some questions on my mind...
When the batteries are fully drained due to lack of sunlight and the heaters then subsequently fail, what equipment will potentially be damaged?

Once the batteries are completely drained, would it be possible for them to be recharged?

When the sunlight returns again, could the solar panels recharge the batteries, or is a slight power source required for the charging process? Could the panels even put out this kind of power? (Thinking along the lines of attempting to start an automobile with just a 9V battery.)
 
  • #21
rewebster said:
if you look real close, there's some four (?) toed footprints in the lower left corner

:smile: The best evidence suggests that the first large Martians were robots.
 
  • #22
Gokul43201 said:
So who else has a new wallpaper?

And replace my Hubble Deep-Field image? :eek: I prefer to start each day by looking into a time machine.
 
  • #24
I think I (IF I had a 'say') had a site to choose, it would have been in the 'temperate' regions of Mars---somewhere where the temperatures vary but still where there is a chance of liquid water coming to the surface. 'Frozen' ground on Mars is like landing in a permanent Antarctica...
 
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  • #25
rewebster said:
I think I (IF I had a 'say') had a site to choose, it would have been in the 'temperate' regions of Mars---somewhere where the temperatures vary but still where there is a chance of liquid water coming to the surface. 'Frozen' ground on Mars is like landing in a permanent Antarctica...

It was a balance of factors. The reason they chose that spot it due to the Fall/Winter transition that Turbo mentioned. The area that the lander is sitting on now is expected to covered up to a depth of around three to four feet in CO2 ice. In other words, it's in a neat transitional area. And just like Prof. Peter Smith stated, the ice underground in that region should contain an evolutionary record of Mars's atmosphere and weather conditions AND potentially find life or the past presence of. It's a mission of multiple intents and not JUST about the possibility of past life as the media is concentrating on. The geological and atmospheric data will be an entire league of it's own. It's a compromise really. That and with the amount of data we've accumulated thus far, it's the most likely place to find water.

I, for one, would looove to see a mission to the Tharsis region using a probe loaded with geological instruments... such as those tailored to detect seismic activity.
 
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  • #26
There was a photo somewhere not too long ago of a water 'fall' that quickly 'evaporated' or sublimated. I would have gone in that latitude.
 
  • #27
How annoying is it that I can google-earth, view sky. and not be able to spin Mars like I can with earth, and type in "Phoenix" and find out where the little bugger is at.

Gads. I'm still intrigued by intra-stellar voyages, even after 40 years.
 
  • #28
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  • #29
B. Elliott said:
I never heard about them before. Are you talking about these?...

http://images.google.com/imgres?img...ages?q=mar+waterfall+jpl+nasa&um=1&hl=en&sa=N
Is this the new Rick Roll for cosmic geeks?
I'm willing to bet there are no plans due to the complex terrain which would make a landing very difficult. One potential mission that could further explore areas such as that, is the Mars ARES...

http://marsairplane.larc.nasa.gov/

I'll pay for that. Well, ok. Just 1/6 billionionth of it at least.
 
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  • #30
B. Elliott said:
I never heard about them before. Are you talking about these?...

http://images.google.com/imgres?img...ages?q=mar+waterfall+jpl+nasa&um=1&hl=en&sa=N

I'm willing to bet there are no plans due to the complex terrain which would make a landing very difficult. One potential mission that could further explore areas such as that, is the Mars ARES...

http://marsairplane.larc.nasa.gov/


yes--well, the ones under:

"Here is research paper with lots of images; "Martian Water Stains or Dust Slides?" "

and

http://palermoproject.com/Mars_Anomalies/ text_files/MarsSocietySeepsPaper.pdf
 
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