The space probe hailed as the "next step" in searching for life on Mars is on schedule for a May 25 landing in the red planet's Arctic region, say NASA scientists.
The Phoenix Mars Lander is on schedule for its May 25 landing on Mars. Image: Map showing landing site of Phoenix apprx 68 degrees north latitude. Credit: NASA
The Phoenix Mars Lander will enter Mars' atmosphere at around 13,000 mph (21,000 kph) before slowing to 10 mph (16 kph) prior to landing where it will encounter temperatures ranging from 73 degrees Celsius (minus 99 degrees Fahrenheit) to minus 33 C (minus 27 F).
"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."
The main risk to the Lander are large rocks which would impede the craft as it lands or prevent the solar panels from opening, however numerous shots of the landscape by the precision High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, have attempted to pick a landing spot where rocks are smaller than the craft, lessening the risk.
"We have blanketed nearly the entire landing area with HiRISE images," said Ray Arvidson of Washington University in St. Louis, chairman of the Phoenix landing-site working group in a NASA statement. "This is one of the least rocky areas on all of Mars and we are confident that rocks will not detrimentally impact the ability of Phoenix to land safely."
Once safely landed the probe will deploy a 2.35 meter (7.5 foot) robotic arm that will dig into the soil, with the aim of hitting the icy crust that scientists believe is within a few inches of the surface. It will be these samples that the craft will analyse for forms of life which scientists believe may have once existed due to evidence of rivers and oceans on the now arid planet.
Two instruments will be used to analyse the samples once collected. One will check for water and carbon-based chemicals, considered essential building blocks for life, while the other will analyze the soil chemistry, reports AFP.
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