Phoenix Mars Lander.

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3488

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<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>&nbsp;<font color="#ff0000">I just noticed this is the same day as Discovery is scheduled to launch on the next shuttle mission! <br />Posted by MeteorWayne</font></DIV><br /><br /><font size="2" color="#003300"><strong>And within minutes of each other freind. Just as STS-124 Discovery is reaching orbit, Phoenix hopefully will have soft landed in Scandia Colles on Mars.</strong></font></p><p><br /><font size="2" color="#003300"><strong>Below view of sky at noon Friday 28th March 2008 from the Phoenix site.<br /></strong></font>http://www.thespaceport.us/forum/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=8954<img id="ipb-attach-img-8945-0-17118900-1206820033" style="cursor:pointer" class="ipb" src="http://thespaceport.us/forum/uploads/monthly_03_2008/post-774-1206747008_thumb.png" alt="Attached Image" title="Click to view full image" width="500" height="375" /><br /><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="display:inline;width:auto" id="ipb-attach-table-8945-0-24365100-1206747070"><tbody><tr><td>&nbsp;
 
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brandbll

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<p>I'm sure this has probably been answered, but this thread it too long, and pluck is too slow, for me to go back and look through this thread.&nbsp; So i'll just pose it again.</p><p>Why did they choose to send a lander opposed to a rover when they have had so much success with the two rovers?</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="3">You wanna talk some jive? I'll talk some jive. I'll talk some jive like you've never heard!</font></p> </div>
 
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centsworth_II

Guest
Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'><font color="#666699">Why did they choose to send a lander opposed to a rover when they have had so much success with the two rovers? <br /> Posted by brandbll</font></DIV><br />This mission was not designed&nbsp; from scratch.&nbsp; It uses an existing lander that was mothballed after the failure of the Mars Polar Lander that was to land near the south pole.&nbsp; Using this existing equipment allows the mission to be done much more cheaply than building a new craft.&nbsp; The only other alternative would be no mission at all.&nbsp; Look at the trouble they are having finding the money to pay for the MSL rover mission to launch, hopefully, in 2009. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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brandbll

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<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>This mission was not designed&nbsp; from scratch.&nbsp; It uses an existing lander that was mothballed after the failure of the Mars Polar Lander that was to land near the south pole.&nbsp; Using this existing equipment allows the mission to be done much more cheaply than building a new craft.&nbsp; The only other alternative would be no mission at all.&nbsp; Look at the trouble they are having finding the money to pay for the MSL rover mission to launch, hopefully, in 2009. <br />Posted by centsworth_II</DIV></p><p>That makes sense.&nbsp; I figured it might have been because it was landing in an area that doesn't get a lot of sun, which would have made it difficult to power the vehicle.&nbsp; How long is the Phoenix lander suppose to last once, and if, it successfully touches down?</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="3">You wanna talk some jive? I'll talk some jive. I'll talk some jive like you've never heard!</font></p> </div>
 
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3488

Guest
<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'><font size="1" color="#ff0000">That makes sense.&nbsp; I figured it might have been because it was landing in an area that doesn't get a lot of sun, which would have made it difficult to power the vehicle.&nbsp; How long is the Phoenix lander suppose to last once, and if, it successfully touches down? <br />Posted by brandbll</font></DIV></p><p><font size="2" color="#333300"><strong>Centsworth_II is correct. Phoenix is the same spacecraft that had been mothballed the 2001 Mars Surveyor.</strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#333300"><strong>Mars Surveyor 2001 was due to have launched on Tuesday 3rd April 2001 & land on Mars on: Sunday 27th January 2002.</strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#333300"><strong>Link below, to potential Mars 2001 landing sites.</strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#333300"><strong>&nbsp;</strong></font><font size="2" color="#000080"><strong>http://web99.arc.nasa.gov/~vgulick/MSLS99_Wkshp/Barlow_Highland_abs.pdf</strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#333300"><strong>This mission was cancelled following the double fiasco with Mars Climate Orbiter & the Mars Polar Lander failures.</strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#333300"><strong>The former Mars 2001 Surveyor spacecraft has been completely refurbished, reprogrammed & alterations made to make a high latitude landing possible & has since gone through the mother of all pre-launch testing as well as a rigourous testing regime on route.<br /></strong></font><br /><font size="2" color="#333300"><strong>After landing, Phoenix is expected to have a 90 Sol primary mission. Phoenix lands in the very late Martian northern Spring. The Summer Solstice at the site is only three days after that on Earth (24th June verses 21st June). The end of the primary mission will end at our equivalent of early August, when the Sun will be getting lower & setting for longer. </strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#333300"><strong>As the start of the primary mission, Phoenix will be under constant 24/7 sunlight, the Martian Midnight Sun will be visible here, hopefully some movies will be made of the Martian Midnight Sun swooping low over the northern horizon @ midnight.</strong></font></p><p><strong><font size="2" color="#333300">The mission could well last considerably longer, dependent on local weather. I hope Phoenix will last pass the Autumn Equinox, when the very first CO2 frost may start appearing.</font></strong></p><p><strong><font size="2" color="#333300">Phoenix WILL NOT survive the Winter. Firstly the Sun will not rise (though there will be bright twilight as the Sun approaches 2 degrees below the southern horizon at midday on the Winter Solstice), but also, there is likely to be a layer approx 2 metres deep of frozen CO2</font></strong>&nbsp; <font size="2" color="#333300"><strong>& temperatures approaching minus 140 Celsius.</strong></font>&nbsp;</p><p><font size="2" color="#333300"><strong>The lowest temperature survived on the Martian surface thus far is minus 117 Celsius by Viking 2 in May 1978, from the site in Utopia Planitia, but Viking 2 was RTG powered. </strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#333300"><strong>Whether or not Pheonix will surpass that remains unknown, though I suspect due to the northerly latitude Phoenix has been designed for that & colder.</strong></font></p><p><strong><font size="2" color="#333300">At the warmest time of the Martian northern Summer at the site, the temperature may rise as high as <font color="#ff0000">*</font><font color="#ff0000">minus</font>&nbsp;<font color="#ff0000">20 </font>Celsius, during a heat wave at the landing site, but for much of the time, it will be much colder than that.</font></strong></p><p><strong><font size="2" color="#333300">Below noon on the Mid Winter Solstice @ the Phoenix site on: Friday 22nd May 2009.</font></strong></p><p><img id="ipb-attach-img-8955-0-17204900-1206820033" style="cursor:pointer" class="ipb" src="http://thespaceport.us/forum/uploads/monthly_03_2008/post-774-1206802836_thumb.png" alt="Attached Image" title="Click to view full image" width="500" height="375" /></p><p><font size="2"><font color="#ff0000"><strong>*</strong></font> <strong><font color="#ff0000">Edited as exoscientist / Bob Clark&nbsp;pointed out a minor&nbsp;error & I have corrected it.</font></strong></font></p><p>http://www.thespaceport.us/forum/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=8954</p><p><strong><font size="2" color="#333300">Andrew Brown.</font></strong></p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>
 
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exoscientist

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<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>....At the warmest time of the Martian northern Summer at the site, the temperature may rise as high as minus 40 Celsius, during a heat wave at the landing site, but for much of the time, it will be much colder than that.Below noon on the Mid Winter Solstice @ the Phoenix site on: Friday 22nd May 2009.Andrew Brown. <br /> Posted by 3488</DIV></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;Thanks for that informative post. But I'm curious about where you got the -40C maximum temperature from. I've seen both modeled temperatures and actual TES measurements that give the maximum temperature as in the range of -25C to -20C at the latitude of the Phoenix landing site.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp; Bob Clark<br />&nbsp; </p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
3

3488

Guest
<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>&nbsp;&nbsp;<font color="#ff0000">Thanks for that informative post. But I'm curious about where you got the -40C maximum temperature from. I've seen both modeled temperatures and actual TES measurements that give the maximum temperature as in the range of -25C to -20C at the latitude of the Phoenix landing site.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Bob Clark&nbsp; <br />Posted by exoscientist</font></DIV></p><p><font size="2" color="#333300"><strong>Hi Bob, my mistake, I own up to it.</strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#333300"><strong>The info I had actually mentioned minus 40 C being the warmest that Phoenix can expect at the START of the mission, with it getting warmer AFTER the Solstice (like Earth). </strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#333300"><strong>Sorry Bob, that was my mistake. I have re-worded the post above.<br /></strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#333300"><strong>Thank you for pulling me up on it.</strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#333300"><strong>I am pleased however, that someone with your incredible knowledge liked what I had said.</strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#333300"><strong>Andrew Brown.</strong></font></p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>
 
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keermalec

Guest
<p>Lol, is it me or do NASA videos look more and more like movie traillers?</p><p>link</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>“An error does not become a mistake until you refuse to correct it.” John F. Kennedy</em></p> </div>
 
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Andrey992

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I was wondering, will nasa TV cover the landing in live? if not that what is the best place to view it live, if it possible. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
3

3488

Guest
<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'><font color="#ff0000">I was wondering, will nasa TV cover the landing in live? if not that what is the best place to view it live, if it possible. <br />Posted by Andrey992</font></DIV></p><p><font size="2"><strong>Hi Andrey992.</strong></font></p><p><font size="2"><strong>Believe you me, you will not be alone in trying to find out this. Usually NASATV has live coverage, but have not seen anything officially as yet. </strong></font></p><p><font size="2"><strong>Well the big day is now NEXT MONTH. eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!!!!!!!!</strong></font></p><p><font size="2"><font size="1">Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'></font><font size="1" color="#ff0000">Lol, is it me or do NASA videos look more and more like movie traillers? Posted by keermalec</DIV></font></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#000000"><strong>Hi Keermalec,&nbsp;</strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#000000"><strong>Yes that does look like a movie trailer. Great bit of film, but yes, certainly looks more appropriate on the silver screen.</strong></font></p><p><strong><font size="2" color="#003300">Landing Countdown:</font></strong></p><p><font size="2" color="#003300"><strong>54 Days. 0 Hour.&nbsp;10 Minutes & 30 Seconds.</strong></font></p><p><strong><font size="2" color="#003300">Andrew Brown.</font></strong></p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>
 
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MeteorWayne

Guest
<p>From what I understand they are planning to cover it live. I recall reading in this or the STS-124 thread that should STS-124 launch on the same day, one will be on the public channel, the other on the media channel. However, we've been informed the STS-124 launch is likely to be delayed a few days so there will be no conflict.</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>
 
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MeteorWayne

Guest
<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Landing Countdown Days: 46Hours: 4Minutes:&nbsp;24Seconds:&nbsp;00Where is Phoenix Now? <br />Posted by abq_farside</DIV></p><p>http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/phoenix/news/release.php?ArticleID=1662</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong><font size="2">NASA Spacecraft Fine Tunes Course for Mars Landing<br /></font></strong>April 10, 2008<br /><br /><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA engineers have adjusted the flight path of the Phoenix Mars Lander, setting the spacecraft on course for its May 25 landing on the Red Planet. <br /><br />"This is our first trajectory maneuver targeting a specific location in the northern polar region of Mars," said Brian Portock, chief of the Phoenix navigation team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. The mission's two prior trajectory maneuvers, made last August and October, adjusted the flight path of Phoenix to intersect with Mars. <br /><br />NASA has conditionally approved a landing site in a broad, flat valley informally called "Green Valley." A final decision will be made after NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter takes additional images of the area this month. <br /><br />The orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera has taken more than three dozen images of the area. Analysis of those images prompted the Phoenix team to shift the center of the landing target 13 kilometers (8 miles) southeastward, away from slightly rockier patches to the northwest. Navigators used that new center for planning today's maneuver. <br /><br />The landing area is an ellipse about 62 miles by about 12 miles (100 kilometers by 20 kilometers). Researchers have mapped more than five million rocks in and around that ellipse, each big enough to end the mission if hit by the spacecraft during landing. Knowing where to avoid the rockier areas, the team has selected a scientifically exciting target that also offers the best chances for the spacecraft to set itself down safely onto the Martian surface</font></p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>
 
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MeteorWayne

Guest
<p>Time to landing 44 days 4 hours, 35 minutes</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>
 
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CalliArcale

Guest
<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>but also, there is likely to be a layer approx 2 metres deep of frozen CO2&nbsp; & temperatures approaching minus 140 Celsius.<br /> Posted by 3488</DIV></p><p>Dude!&nbsp; 2 meters of dry ice snow.&nbsp; Wow.&nbsp; I can see where that would be a problem.&nbsp; Pity the probe won't survive the winter, but it'll be neat to see what they squeeze out of it, science wise, as the end approaches.&nbsp; The primary mission will be great, but I just find something really exciting about seeing what the engineers and scientists manage to come up with for squeezing the last little bit of usefulness out of these things.&nbsp;</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>
 
3

3488

Guest
<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'><font color="#ff0000">http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/phoenix/news/release.php?ArticleID=1662NASA Spacecraft Fine Tunes Course for Mars LandingApril 10, 2008PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA engineers have adjusted the flight path of the Phoenix Mars Lander, setting the spacecraft on course for its May 25 lan............</font> <font color="#ff0000">Posted by MeteorWayne</font></DIV></p><p><strong><font size="2">Cheers Wayne, </font></strong></p><p><strong><font size="2">Super update, see they've moved the centre of the landing ellipse slightly south east. Hope they do not have to move it further south, as the far northern latitude is the real attraction. </font></strong></p><p><strong><font size="2">Hopefully we get to see the MRO HiRISE images that have prompted the slight move.&nbsp;&nbsp;</font></strong></p><p><strong><font size="2">Not long now.</font></strong></p><p><font size="2"><font size="1">Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'></font><font size="1" color="#ff0000">Dude!&nbsp; 2 meters of dry ice snow.&nbsp; Wow.&nbsp; I can see where that would be a problem.&nbsp; Pity the probe won't survive the winter, but it'll be neat to see what they squeeze out of it, science wise, as the end approaches.&nbsp; The primary mission will be great, but I just find something really exciting about seeing what the engineers and scientists manage to come up with for squeezing the last little bit of usefulness out of these things.&nbsp;Posted by CalliArcale</DIV></font></font></p><p><font size="2"><strong><font color="#000000">Hi CalliArcale,</font></strong></font></p><p><font size="2"><strong><font color="#000000">I really hope that Phoenix makes it past the Martian northern Hemisphere Autumn Equinox, which falls&nbsp;on: Sunday 10th January 2009. After which, there should be the first signs of water & even CO2 frosts. Whether or not Phoenix makes that far is just pure speculation, but lets hope.&nbsp;</font></strong></font></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><font size="2"><strong>The primary mission is awesome.&nbsp;Hopefully the first successful landing in the polar region of another planet (though NEAR&nbsp;/ Shoemaker did land near the south pole of&nbsp;Asteroid 433 Eros), hopefully get new insights into the Martian Arctic & history, not to mention, hopefully the first observations of the Martian Midnight Sun (I've already submitted a request of a movie of the Sun swooping low over the northern horizon @ midnight).</strong></font></p><p><font size="2"><strong>This mission is incredible & it annoys me when people moan, saying that it is only landing & digging holes, (landing on Mars is far from routine & is still a very special event) something we have already done with the Viking landers, but my arguement is that Phoenix's mission does not require roving & will still provide a complete new data set, from the surface of Mars in a very different location, to anywhere that we have been before (so far no two landing sites have been alike, all have been different).</strong></font></p><p><font size="2"><strong>Andrew Brown.</strong></font></p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>
 
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MeteorWayne

Guest
<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Cheers Wayne, Super update, see they've moved the centre of the landing ellipse slightly south east. Hope they do not have to move it further south, as the far northern latitude is the real attraction. Hopefully we get to see the MRO HiRISE images that have prompted the slight move.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Not long now. <br />Posted by 3488</DIV></p><p>Hope so. I haven't had time to drill into the details, just reporting the news as it came out.</p><p>Now thatr a landing location is more defined, I assume 3488 will zero us in. That's why we love him :)</p><p>(All tenses in this message are tuned for maximum ironic effect. Any tenses that seem not irionic and appreciative are wrong....)</p><p>Wayne</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>
 
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3488

Guest
<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'><font color="#ff0000">Hope so. I haven't had time to drill into the details, just reporting the news as it came out.Now thatr a landing location is more defined, I assume 3488 will zero us in. That's why we love him :)(All tenses in this message are tuned for maximum ironic effect. Any tenses that seem not irionic and appreciative are wrong....)Wayne <br />Posted by MeteorWayne</font></DIV></p><p><font size="2" color="#000000"><strong>Hi Wayne, </strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#000000"><strong>I will attempt to find those images. My pooter has been doing a few weird things, like submitting my last post, before I could answer Calli's post. Seems to be OK now though.</strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#000000"><strong>Anyway, thank you so much for your update, it is always very good to be kept informed. The fact there does appear to be boulders & rocks, whilst from an engineering viewpoint are nighmarish, are useful to help determine the chemical makeup of the local area (Mars Pathfinder in Ares Vallis was different, as Pathfinder was deliberately sent to a site, where rocks were washed down from far away, hence Pathfinder has a great Grab Bag of many differing types of Martian Rocks).</strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#000000"><strong>We'll see hopefully, assuming a successful landing.</strong></font></p><p><strong><font size="2">View of Sun & Mercury / Venus conjunction from Phoenix landing site on Mars. Friday 11th April 2008 @ 21:54 UTC.</font></strong></p><p><strong><font size="2">http://img247.imageshack.us/my.php?image=phoenixlander11thaprtr0.gif<br /><img src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/5/6/c592b86a-7847-4dd8-b691-3d3312a44fb1.Medium.gif" alt="" /><br /></font></strong></p><strong><font size="2">Andrew Brown.</font></strong><font color="#000000"> </font> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>
 
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nimbus

Guest
Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Dude!&nbsp; 2 meters of dry ice snow.&nbsp; Wow.&nbsp; I can see where that would be a problem.&nbsp; Pity the probe won't survive the winter, but it'll be neat to see what they squeeze out of it, science wise, as the end approaches.&nbsp; The primary mission will be great, but I just find something really exciting about seeing what the engineers and scientists manage to come up with for squeezing the last little bit of usefulness out of these things.&nbsp; <br /> Posted by CalliArcale</DIV><br />It's probably just my simplistic picture of the thing, but that means ice 2 meters below the surface, or 2 meters of ice-rich soil - the probe isn't going to fire its landing thrusters at 2 meters of ice, is it? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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3488

Guest
<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'><font color="#ff0000">It's probably just my simplistic picture of the thing, but that means ice 2 meters below the surface, or 2 meters of ice-rich soil - the probe isn't going to fire its landing thrusters at 2 meters of ice, is it? <br />Posted by nimbus</font></DIV></p><p><font size="2" color="#000000"><strong>Hi nimbus,</strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#000000"><strong>Calli was correct. During the Winter, CO2 snow will accumulate on the surface & by the Spring Equinox, it will be 2 metres deep on the surface with temperatures approaching -140 C.</strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#000000"><strong>We know that Phoenix will be buried, perhaps the top of the camera mast may just stick up above it, though even that is doubtfull. During late Spring, Summer & early Autmn it will melt & Phoenix will be exposed again. </strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#000000"><strong>Wonder if JPL will attempt to wake Phoenix, when the CO2 snows evaporate?</strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#000000"><strong>Andrew Brown.</strong></font><br /></p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>
 
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Philotas

Guest
<p>Hi Andrew,</p><p>does any of the CO2/H2O fall from the sky as snow, or does it all deposite (desublimate)?</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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3488

Guest
<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'><font color="#ff0000">Hi Andrew,does any of the CO2/H2O fall from the sky as snow, or does it all deposite (desublimate)? <br />Posted by Philotas</font></DIV></p><p><strong><font size="2">Hi Philotas,</font></strong></p><p><strong><font size="2">It will be in the form of thickening&nbsp;frost deposits, not actually snow. CO2 & H2O will be accumulating as frost, as it is drawn in from warmer areas further south.</font></strong></p><p><strong><font size="2">With Phoenix with its very large upward (average solar intencity on Mars is only 44% of that on Earth, not to mention the high 68 degrres&nbsp;North latitude thrown in) pointing solar arrays, will collect an awful lot of this, possibly causing them to snap off during the Winter despite the 38% Earth gravity on Mars.</font></strong></p><p><strong><font size="2">AFAIK, Mars does not have precipitation from clouds as we do on Earth. Mars does have frosts, mists&nbsp;& fogs, but not actual snow.</font></strong></p><p><strong><font size="2">Unless Jon Clarke or exoscientist (Bob Clark) know otherwise.</font></strong></p><p><strong><font size="2">Below a 250 metre wide area in the centre of the Phoenix landing ellipse. MRO HiRISE.</font></strong></p><p><font size="2" color="#000080"><strong>http://img209.imageshack.us/my.php?image=250metrewidepatchincentvi3.jpg</strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#000000"><strong>Below same image but enlarged & sharpened up a bit.</strong></font></p><p><strong><font size="2" color="#000080">http://img151.imageshack.us/my.php?image=250metrewidepatchincenttz8.jpg</font></strong><br /><img src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/0/1/704f6963-cd4a-4538-b181-40a2fe1ad85c.Medium.jpg" alt="" /></p><p><strong><font size="2">Andrew Brown.</font></strong></p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>
 
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exoscientist

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<p>&nbsp;There has been suggestive evidence of CO2 snow&nbsp;in the polar regions of&nbsp;Mars:</p><p>December 06, 2001<br />LASER ALTIMETER PROVIDES FIRST MEASUREMENTS OF SEASONAL SNOW DEPTH ON MARS<br />http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/20011206molaice.html</p><p>Carbon dioxide snow storms during the polar night on Mars.<br />JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 107, NO. E7, 5051, 2002<br />http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2002/2001JE001758.shtml</p><p>&nbsp;The possibility of&nbsp;H2O snow on Mars has generally been discounted because of the low amounts of water vapor&nbsp;in Mars atmosphere. However, I believe there are cases of low lying&nbsp;water ice clouds that give the appearance of dense precipitation bearing clouds, rather than the high altitude,&nbsp;thin cirrus-like clouds most often seen on Mars, as in this Mars Express image of the Valles Marineris system:</p><p><br /><img src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/12/3/ec0472aa-52be-4ca3-b32e-e4270389297b.Medium.jpg" alt="" /></p><p>and in this Viking Orbiter image of Noctis Labyrinthus:</p><p>Colorful Water Clouds Over Mars <br />http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010417.html</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp; Bob Clark</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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Andrey992

Guest
<span style="color:#c1001d;font-family:verdana;font-weight:bold;font-size:15px">Your Question Has Been Answered</span> <br /> <br /> <span style="color:#c1001d;font-family:verdana;font-size:12px;font-weight:bold">The question you submitted to the Phoenix Mars Mission ask the team has been answered. Your question was:</span> <br /><br /> <span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:12px">Will NASA TV cover the landing?</span> <br /><br /> <span style="color:#c1001d;font-family:verdana;font-size:12px;font-weight:bold">The answer to your question is:</span> <br /> <br /> <span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:12px">Yes, NASA TV will cover the landing on May 25. We should get the first signals back around 4:53 PDT. </span> <br /><br /> <span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:12px;font-weight:bold">We appreciate your interest in the Phoenix Mars Mission!</span> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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