Gizmodo: phoenix lander

New HiRISE Images Show Chilly, Frost-Covered Phoenix Lander

Rosa Golijan — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:40:00 EST

Mars isn't exactly the warmest place during the winter transition, but as the first few rays of sunshine lick at the planet's surface we're able to make out the Phoenix lander shivering under a cover of dry-ice frost.

We're able to see the lander in the images taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter despite the low-light conditions and the reflective effects of the carbon dioxide frost. The HiRISE team did have to play around with the contrast and angles to get the image we see, but how many pictures pass without some sort of processing anyway.

Photos like this one are intended to help us understand the winter patterns and transitions of Mars better, but all I understand at the moment is need to drink a cup of hot chocolate on behalf of the Phoenix lander. [HiRISE via NASA]

At Giz Gallery: Mars In 3D On Our Giant TV

John Mahoney — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 19:25:27 EST

We just put up some 3D images taken by the Phoenix Mars Lander on our 103-inch plasma, handed out some old school anaglyph glasses, queued up "Life On Mars?" and took a look for ourselves.

You may remember Phoenix's farewell transmission from Mars—thankfully, before it sailed off into the cosmic space robot afterlife, it grabbed some stereo images with its camera, which were converted into 3D and sent over to us by our friends at JPL for use in the gallery.

We're about to close up shop for tonight, but we'll be back tomorrow from 11am-4pm. It's our last day, so come on over! We'll put up the Mars images again if you ask all nice and friendly like.

[Thanks to REED ANNEX and thanks to our benefactor gizmine.com]

Gizmodo Gallery

Reed Annex

151 Orchard Street

New York, NY 10002

Gizmodo Gallery Reader Meetup

The reader meetup takes place across the street from the Gallery, at a place called The Annex (not to be confused with REED ANNEX where the gallery is hosted.) The address is 152 Orchard Street and we'll be there at 9 PM SHARP on Friday December 5th.

Gallery Dates:

December 4th-7th

Times:

12/4 Thursday

12-8

12/5 Friday

12-8

12/6 Saturday

11-8

12/7 Sunday

11-4

[Read more about our Gizmodo Gallery here and see what else we'll be playing with at the event.]

Phoenix Lander Watches Snow Falling on Mars

John Mahoney — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 09:50:00 EDT

As the clock continues to tick for brave Phoenix so far away on Mars, the discoveries keep on rolling: this time, that snow falls on Mars. A laser instrument called for pulsing the atmosphere and observing what gets bounced back detected Martian flurries at altitudes of 4km in the clouds. The snow is vaporizing before hitting the ground, but the discovery lends some crucial insight into the Martian water cycle. As did another juicy finding dug up from the soil.

The latest sample from the extended surface digs to hit Phoenix's Easybake detected the presence of calcium carbonate—a mineral found in chalk and clay that tends to only exist in soil after interactions with liquid water. Phoenix has already tasted water ice from its landing point on the North Pole, but the carbonate is an important find for suggesting more watery interactions in the past.

The sun is slowly setting on Phoenix as winter sets in—its solar panels output less juice every day. But before going cold completely, the team hopes to fire up a microphone (the guy has everything) to take a listen for whatever might be out there. [NASA, Mars Phoenix Twitter, image, of course, simulated]

Phoenix Lander Crew's Cubicles Designed to Fight Perpetual Martian Jet Lag

John Mahoney — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 19:20:00 EDT

I've always tried to look at jet lag from a more recreational perspective (when else will I rise from sleep wide awake at 3:45 AM?), but what the scientists of the Mars Phoenix Lander mission have to go through makes a 19-hour direct flight to Singapore look like cupcakes. Since Martian Sols are longer than Earth days by 40 minutes, the staff's work schedule effectively skips two time zones every three days to stay on the spacecraft's own schedule. Multiply that over the course of the planned 92-day mission, and you've got some mightily out-of-wack Circadian rhythms on your hands.

One way to preserve the Phoenix workers' sanity are the harsh blue LED-lit workstations you see here, which are on a wavelength that simulates daylight and fools the body into thinking everything's OK. Researchers from the Harvard Medical School who are using the Mars Phoenix staff as guinea pigs for a study on Circadian rhythms also have them doing pre- and post-shift cognition and "mood" testing.

So if any of this crazy scheduling rings a bell with your terrestrial gig, do yourself right and get a nice big glaring blue LED panel for your cube. You'll feel a lot better. [Space.com]

First Time Jitters Cause Inaugural Mars Lander Load To Miss Target

Jack Loftus — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 11:30:00 EDT

Our favorite Martian gadget of the moment is experiencing some performance anxiety. While all of Phoenix's parts are working just fine, including the 8-foot scoop arm, the little guy just couldn't seal the deal when NASA scientists gave the green light to scoop dirt and put the bun in the oven. None of the inaugural sample made it into the first oven, you see, and scientists at the University of Arizona are scrambling today to find out why.

The latest glitch arrived after a week of successful tests involving the sleepy scoop arm, and could dash the earlier sense of optimism that arose at mission control when Phoenix spied a shiny ice sheet just beneath its feet.

Photos of the fail were released by the University of Arizona team on Saturday, and showed "a scoopful of dirt sitting on and around the open oven door after being dumped by the craft's 8-foot robot arm." None of the dirt made it into the tiny chamber, however. If it had, the miniature oven housed within would have begun heating the soil to test it for gasses, water or organic compounds.

It's a minor issue, considering there are seven more ovens to work with, so let's have a bit of fun at the Lander's expense, courtesy of CNN's "story highlights" (which sound just like a stammering Jason Biggs in American Pie after he, too, fails to seal the deal):

• Photos show dirt around oven door, but none made it into chamber (premature excavation)
• "We think everything is working correctly," says scientist in charge of oven (the classic, "I swear, this is the first time this has ever happened!")
• If oven is unusable, lander has seven more ("I've got reserves!")
• Scientists will spend next several days trying to figure out the problem (porn)

There's also a potentially malfunctioning vibrator to consider, although initial tests showed it was working as designed (seriously, read the article). In the meantime, NASA reports scientists will continue to poke around in the soil and do additional digging. [The Associated Press]

Nasa's Phoenix Spacecraft Is Fully Scoopable

Sean Fallon — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:40:00 EDT

After experiencing a little trouble early on with the robotic arm on the Phoenix lander, it appears that all systems are go for NASA to begin sampling Martian dirt. A practice scoop was carried out successfully and scientists noted that "a bright material appears in the scooped-up soil and in the hole from which it came"—which could mean the presence of ice or salt, according to experts. However, full-scale soil testing is not set to begin until later this week.

[Phoenix]

NASA Phoenix Lander Finds Water On Mars!

Jack Loftus — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 14:30:00 EDT

The landing thrusters aboard the Phoenix Mars Lander apparently did their job and them some. First, they successfully fired and gently deposited the multimillion dollar probe on the surface of the Red Planet. And then, by doing just that, they blew away three to six inches of Martian soil to reveal the shiny, slick face of what could be a large ice patch. Brendan Fraser's frozen caveman body was noticeably absent from this block of ice, but NASA scientists were elated anyway. The discovery reaffirms that the landing was indeed a bull's eye, akin to the Opportunity rover "hole in one" crater touchdown more than four years ago.

"It's the consensus of all of us that we have found ice," said Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, Tucson, which is leading the Phoenix project with help from NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab. "It's shiny and smooth - it's absolutely astounding!" he said. Exclamation points aside, Smith did concede, as scientists are wont to do, that the gleaming slab could be "something else," but the leading interpretation is that future tests will confirm it is ice.

The patch, which was discovered by Phoenix's camera during a routine inspection of its legs, joins several existing targets of digging opportunity. One is called Humpty Dumpty, and the second is the King of Hearts. The ice patch? Thy name is "Holy Cow!" said Smith. All three sites will presumably be where the lander's robotic scoop arm will dig to begin a set of experiments that could prove or disprove the presence of organic, life building compounds on Mars. [SFGate]

Mars Lander Can Move Arm Now, Probably Just Slept On It Wrong

Adrian Covert — Fri, 30 May 2008 20:41:44 EDT

Putting rest to fears that the Phoenix Lander might be DOA, the lander wagged its robotic arm on Thursday. NASA was worried that a stuck piece of plastic casing could prohibit the 7.7 ft titanium appendage from extending, making it impossible for the Phoenix to carry out crucial drilling experiments.

The primary goal of the mission is to drill a few inches into Martian soil, where scientists think they may find red "water-ice," known on earth as strawberry Slushee, which could provide compelling evidence that life once did (or one day could) exist there. Digging is expected to start soon, but for now there's plenty of terrain pr0n at the Phoenix official website [Phoenix via NY Times] -by John Herrman

Today is Phoenix Mars Lander Day

Jack Loftus — Sun, 25 May 2008 10:00:00 EDT

As you digest hot dogs or tend to one of your geektastic Memorial Day grilling machines today, take a moment to consider NASA's Phoenix Lander, which is scheduled to touch down on Mars this evening. At about 8 p.m. EST, the multimillion dollar lander will enter the Red Planet's atmosphere and experience what CNN is calling "seven minutes of terror" (worry not, I checked the story and it has nothing to do with the Lander being in a closet with Paris Hilton). Then, during a maneuver that puts any earthbound supercar's brakes to shame, Phoenix will slow itself from approximately 13,000 miles per hour to about five in the space of six to seven minutes. Want to follow the probe's wild ride? There are a few sites covering the evening event live listed after the jump.

Tom's Astronomy Blog has assembled a list of Mars Lander links today:

CNN with Miles O'Brien streams the landing live later tonight.
NASA TV has web and TV coverage
Telescope coverage will be provided by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and the Green Bank Telescope

You should be aware that NASA has the odds stacked against it when it comes to off world remote control landings. To date, only five of thirteen landing attempts have been successful. NASA notes there will be a 15-minute delay between the landing and a confirmation, due to distance, so... *finger crossed* [Tom's Astronomy Blog]