In-Flight Checkouts of Phoenix Mars Lander Pass Tests
At the present time, the Phoenix Mars Lander is communicating with Earth via a super-high frequency X-band radio which is mounted on the spacecraft. But the radio that will relay communications from Phoenix to orbiters that are presently around Mars was recently successfully tested, along with its radar. The tested radio will be turned on again when the Phoenix will land on Mars, May 25, 2008. The current X-band radio being used via the flight is located on the top of the area which will be jettisoned right before the spacecraft hits the top of the Mars’s atmosphere.
The radar of the Phoenix will monitor the “fast-shrinking distance” to the ground of Mars during its final three minutes before touchdown. This triggers descent-engine firings, which is considered the most challenging aspect of the entire flight and mission. The Phoenix is presently traveling at about 74,000 mph with a speed of 14,000 mph when the Phoenix is in respect to the planet Mars (the difference between the speed of the Phoenix in relation to the speed of Mars). Next May when the Phoenix is close to Mars, the planet will be going about 60,000 mph which brings into play the 14,000 mph difference.
Testing of the radar and radio completed on August 24, 2007, a previous testing of the flight’s in-flight checkout of a Phoenix science instrument focused on the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer, in order to check for water, carbon-containing molecules, and other chemicals in the Martian soil. The advantage of this system as compared to the Viking mission is organic. The Phoenix slowly heats the sample to 1000 C., whereas the Viking heated it very quickly to 500 C. The second aspect is the location of landing, with the Viking mission showing the engineers that it is possible for the water to neutralize the effect of the strong oxidant to be held responsible for destroying organic. However, the instruments are the same as far as ultra-sensitivity. The only serious advantage of the Phoenix is the sample’s heating with gas and the resulting qualities.
The Phoenix’s communication is highly important, and its network has three different locations: Goldstone in California’s Mojave Desert; Madrid, Spain; and Canberra, Australia. Each one is 1/3 around the world from each other so at any given time the spacecraft will be in view of any of the three antennas. All three of them work directly with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. On the other end, the Phoenix will communicate directly with Earth, using its X-band portion of its radio spectrum 8 to 12 gigahertzes.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 5th, 2007 at 6:39 am and is filed under Mission Objectives, Space Agency News, Technical Concerns, The Gear to Get There. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
