Successful New Landing on Mars

What a perfect thing to do with cats, send them to Mars.

I see the lander was built by Lockheed (Martin) Space Systems, in Sunnyvale, CA. I worked there for many years, they make cool stuff. I got to see Hubble in the clean room. Thing was HUGE. Barely fit in the shuttle bay.

They wanted to send a cat, but then remembered what cats do in sandy places and decided to send a robot instead.

Joe(Maxie and Ruby say "Hi, Steve!")Nation

I hate long waits for vital information.

Hope it didn't damage the face, edgar.

I know that face. It's Uncle Elbart.

They included Steve on the mission for an excellent reason: many previous landers have failed to land properly. With a cat on board, the lander is guaranteed to land on its feet.

Heh heh.

A New Horizon for Phoenix
A New Horizon for Phoenix
Credit: Phoenix Mission Team, NASA, JPL-Caltech, Univ. Arizona

Explanation: This flat horizon stretches across the red planet as seen by the Phoenix spacecraft after yesterday's landing on Mars. Touching down shortly after 7:30pm Eastern Time, Phoenix made the first successful soft landing on Mars, using rockets to control its final speed, since the Viking landers in 1976. Launched in August of 2007, Phoenix has now made the northernmost landing and is intended to explore the Martian arctic's potentially ice-rich soil. The lander has returned images and data initially indicating that it is in excellent shape after a nearly flawless descent. News updates will be available throughout the day.

Images from the lander:

http://fawkes4.lpl.arizona.edu/images.php?gID=440&cID=8

http://fawkes4.lpl.arizona.edu/images.php?gID=313&cID=7

Thanks, BBB. It's like Christmas to me, who dreamed as a boy of times like this, but could not be certain any of it would come true in my lifetime.

I'm not sure if you would call it interspecies or interterrestrial dating but either way, if the dating scene expands beyond superficial earthly women, our chances of getting laid increase.....right guys?


Imagine the possibilities...

Phoenix is still partially covered wih the protective sheet that should have come off. If that creates any problems, no one has said it.

Maybe it's just cold.

2008 May 27
Phoenix at Mars
Credit: Phoenix, HiRISE, NASA, JPL-Caltech, Univ. Arizona

Explanation: The Phoenix lander's footpads are about the size of a dinner plate. One of three is shown at the right, covered with Martian soil after a successful soft landing on the Red Planet on May 25. Amazingly, the left panel image is of the spacecraft during its descent phase, captured by the HiRISE camera onboard Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter -- the first image ever of a spacecraft descending to the surface of another planet. Taken from 750 kilometers above Mars, the picture shows Phoenix suspended beneath its unfurling, 10 meter-wide parachute, against the much darker Martian surface. The lander is still attached to its protective backshell. Phoenix subsequently released its parachute at an altitude of 12.6 kilometers. Using rockets to further reduce its speed for landing, Phoenix now rests in the northern polar region of Mars at about 68 degrees latitude.

Latest photos:
http://fawkes4.lpl.arizona.edu/images.php?gID=550&cID=8

Here's the photo of the Phoenix descending.

I think they found life on Mars...

It's a very desolate looking place.

Hopefully what's under the surface is more interesting than what's on top.

Its amazing , the amount of instrumentation on the platform. Im looking forward to the mass spec analyses of the soil and the evolved gases. The accuracy of the labs are about 10 ppb, an amazing accomplishment considering that all the calibration will be on board with m inimal communication and instrructions with back home/

The Universities of Arizaona, University of Neuchatel ,and Dallas University were the main parties involved in developing a lot of the instruments.
Theyve also got a damn laser lidar on board. That blows me away because when we use lidar for air photos it requires all kinds of tweaking and screwing with to get constant good data, However the results are amazing. I understand that Phoenix' lidar will be shooting strait up and looking for boundary layers in the MArtian atmosphere.

Plenty of room for Walmarts and 711s.

don't care too much for 711, I'll hover right past it.

BBB
Good news today. Phoenix was successfully disrobed and is ready for action.

BBB