Possible Extension for NASA’s Phoenix Lander Mission
“We think that there’s enough energy to continue digging and delivery to instruments through at least 120 sols, and then after that, our energy starts to go down, but we can still do operations as a weather station,” said Phoenix robotic arm co-investigator Ray Arvidson of Washington University in St. Louis.
With the NASA Phoenix Lander digging up Martian dirt samples in addition to picking away at the ice layer beneath its surface to test on its onboard instruments, according to Space.com the Phoenix scientific team has requested an extension for its mission. Eventually, the NASA lander hopes to find signs that Mars may have had some form of life in its past. If the extension is approved, another 30 sol days of digging will allow further testing.
The $420 million dollar 90-Martian day mission, which landed on Mars on May 25, 2008, has requested a temporary extension due to its landing spot in the north polar region. The Martian arctic circle where the Phoenix is at will automatically shut down, as it is solar-powered to “close for Old Man Winter.” Its two-wing solar array converts sunlight into electricity, in the same manner as the twin rovers with storing power into a pair of rechargeable batteries. But once winter hits in the Martian Arctic Circle, there will not be enough sun-power for charging. Originally intended to end toward the end of August, the extension of September 30th may be the intended final date.
“We think that there’s enough energy to continue digging and delivery to instruments through at least 120 sols, and then after that, our energy starts to go down, but we can still do operations as a weather station,” said Phoenix robotic arm co-investigator Ray Arvidson of Washington University in St. Louis. If the extension goes through, plans are made to use the Phoenix’s stereo camera, lidar instrument, and other meteorological instruments in order to photograph the Martian surface. They will also make Martian weather measurements—all depending on whether or not they received permission to not only extend the mission but also to extend the finances—all being negotiated at NASA as we speak.
The Phoenix Lander Mission is not the only one working on extensions, as the NASA Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, have went way beyond their original mission planning stage from 90 days to four years. The difference lies in the fact the Phoenix will not continue once the sun comes up in spring on Mars, meaning time to be precious before this fall. The planet Mars will go behind the Sun in November, diminishing the Phoenix’s amount of energy through its solar panels. Also, the temperature at the landing site will begin to drop, causing carbon dioxide ice to precipitate out of the atmosphere. “As the seasons move from fall to winter on Mars … it’s something like 20 to 30 centimeters [about 8 to 12 inches] of CO2 ice forms out of the atmosphere,” Arvidson said.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008 at 5:19 am and is filed under Space Agency News, Technical Concerns. 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.
