Congratulations to our Peter Smith

Principal Investigator and Project Leadership, University of Arizona
Phoenix Mars Mission

 

UA on 'Martian cloud nine' Now the science begins for Mars Lander team

The cheering, high-fives and hugging celebrating the Phoenix Mars Lander's arrival on the red planet Sunday had scarcely died down before researchers began thinking about their next steps.

"We've spent years and years preparing for this and now we get to run with the science," said Rob Bovill, who works in the mission's Payload Interoperability Test Bed, or PIT.

Monday may be a holiday for most, but Bovill and other team workers will be busy making the PIT, a Mars-scape at the mission's Tucson Science Operations Center, an exact replica of the landing site.

"As soon as we see photos from the Lander, we will make the environment as close to the landing site as we possibly can," Bovill said.

A full-scale engineering model of the Lander in the PIT will be used to plan - and practice - the science operations that will be done on the Martian surface over the next three months.

Pandemonium erupted at the Science Operation Center on Sunday afternoon after the Lander spacecraft phoned home to let anxious researchers know it had landed safely on the Martian surface.

A similar reaction occurred two hours later when crystal-clear images taken by the craft's Surface Stereo Imager, were viewed. They included the deployed solar panels, the Lander's feet and the surrounding surface and a postcard view of the Martian horizon.

"This thing performed perfectly," said Peter Smith, the mission's principal investigator. "It's only tilted a quarter-degree (from horizontal). It's in a safe place. It's very safe and happy."

The landing spot was free of boulders or other large objects that could keep the Lander from digging into the Martian surface. Its mission is to seek evidence of water and elements of life by analyzing soil and ice samples scooped from the planet's northern arctic region.

"I'm on Martian cloud nine," a jubilant Smith said. "This was just perfect - it didn't seem real.

The craft ended its 10-month, 422-million mile journey by surviving the mission's toughest segment, the "seven minutes of terror," where it slowed from 12,500 mph to a soft landing using the Martian atmosphere, a parachute and 12 descent thrusters.

The spacecraft landed at 4:38 p.m. but the safe landing message arrived at 4:53 p.m. because it takes radio signals 15 minutes to travel the 171 million miles separating the planets.

About 400 people, including Phoenix team members, their families and friends, gathered to watch NASA TV and celebrate at the Science Operations Center, near North Stone Avenue and East Drachman Street.

The crowd erupted with cheers and applause each time a landing milestone, such as the parachute deployment, was announced.
"We'll start surface operations right away," Smith said. "Over the next three months, we will be analyzing materials from the Martian surface to the ice layer."

The University of Arizona-led mission is hosting about 150 researchers, technicians and administrative personnel to run the mission for its scheduled three-month duration.

Tucson Citizen
May 26, 2008

In Memory of our Classmates Who Are No Longer With Us

We regret to inform you of the passing of Ernie Sanchez

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