The Phoenix on Mars

In just two days, the NASA Phoenix Spacecraft is scheduled to end its 10 month journey through space and begin its landing mission on Mars. This unprecedented mission has two highlighted objectives:

1)    To study the history of water on Mars in all of its phases.
2)    To search for evidence of habitable zones and assess biological potential on Mars.

The Phoenix Mars Lander is equipped with the capability to target Mars’ northern arctic plain (where the Mars Odyssey Orbiter discovered subsurface water in the form of ice in 2002), dig through the surface soil to gather soil and buried ice samples, and analyze the chemical and mineralogical components of these samples.

The data generated from this mission will contribute significantly the goals of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program which are as follows:

1)    Determine whether Life ever arose on Mars
2)    Characterize the Climate of Mars
3)    Characterize the Geology of Mars
4)    Prepare for Human Exploration

For up-to-date information on the Phoenix Mars Mission, check out NASA’s Phoenix Landing Blog and the Discovery News: Space Diary, Discovery News’ blog, live from the Phoenix flight control center.