This artist’s depiction shows NASA’s Phoenix Mars lander at a site in the far north of the red planet.

Credit: NASA/JPL/Corby Waste



Built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems near Denver, Colorado, Phoenix is shown here in a clean room undergoing inspection and testing.

Credit: Lockheed Martin Space Systems



Following months of operation, the setting Sun will begin to bring the Phoenix mission to a close. As winter comes to the site, the lander’s solar arrays can no longer charge the batteries onboard Phoenix.

Credit: NASA/JPL/Corby Waste

 

NASA’s Phoenix Mars lander is nearing its target – and prepared to open a new chapter in investigating the red planet.

If all goes according to plan, the Phoenix spacecraft will nosedive into Mars’ thin atmosphere on Sunday, May 25th. The three-legged lander is to alight at the martian polar north at around 7:53 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

Its mission is to help address the role of water on Mars and delve into conditions that could support past, perhaps even present, life.

Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator for the Phoenix mission, a leading Mars scientist at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

“Things look great. The spacecraft is doing well,” Smith told this Coalition reporter in an exclusive interview. “We’re prepared for the surface mission. We’ve gone through all of our dress rehearsals and preparations. We’re in the best shape we know how to be.”

Practice makes perfect
The University of Arizona is the location of the Phoenix Mission’s Science Operations Center (SOC). From the SOC, the Phoenix science and engineering teams will command the lander once it is safely situated on Mars, and also, receive data as it is transmitted directly to Earth.

A payload interoperability test bed (PIT) will be located with the SOC. Working in tandem these centers of expertise handle science commands to Phoenix, as well as down-link and analyze data broadcast from the lander.

Phoenix teams have been practicing landing day – and practice makes perfect, Smith advised.
“It’s like learning theory of flying an airplane and then actually having to do it. Without some practice sessions in a flight simulator…you’re likely to kill yourself. We’ve had 10 operational readiness tests and three of them have been learning to work together as a team once we’re on Mars,” Smith said. “Otherwise, nobody knows what to do on the first few days.”

A robotic reach
Once Phoenix has made touchdown on Mars, the most important next step is unfurling a set of solar arrays. The first day on Mars is making sure the spacecraft is in a power-safe mode and it’s communicating, Smith noted, as is double-checking the overall temperatures of the lander.
“So that’s absolute, number one priority,” Smith added. That health check is crucial, along with getting the lander’s solar arrays out, camera deployed, a robotic arm un-stowed, as well as the raising of a meteorological mast.

A modest number of photos will be taken initially, mostly for engineering purposes. “By the second day we’ve got most of a panorama of the landing site…but it’s not just instant gratification, unfortunately,” Smith explained. “There’s patience required for this mission.”

During its three-month exploration of Mars, Phoenix will make use of a scientific toolkit to study the martian soil and buried ice.

Utilizing a powerful 7.7-foot robotic arm, scoops of underground ice and soil lying above the ice will be analyzed by onboard laboratory instruments. “We may not have to go down very deep to find something quite different and exciting,” Smith predicted.

Important questions
One major Phoenix research goal is to gauge whether or not conditions at the site ever have been favorable for microbial life.

The composition and texture of soil above the ice could give clues to whether the ice ever melts in response to long-term climate cycles. Another important question is whether the scooped-up samples contain carbon-based chemicals that are potential building blocks and food for life.

With only days remaining before Phoenix touches down on Mars, is Smith apprehensive?

“We’ve done everything we know how to do. At some point you just have to trust that you’ve done enough. And that’s where we are at,” Smith said.

“We have a really good chance,” Smith concluded. “But don’t get me wrong. I’m scared to death.”