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Spacecraft reveals look at Mars' polar region
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-05-26 23:06 PASADENA - NASA's newest outpost in the solar system is a polygon-cracked terrain in Mars' northern polar region believed to hold a reservoir of ice beneath.
Hours after the Phoenix Mars Lander softly landed Sunday in the Martian arctic plains, it dazzled scientists with the first-ever glimpse of the Red Planet's high northern latitudes. A flood of images sent back by Phoenix revealed a landscape similar to what can be found in Earth's permafrost regions - geometric patterns in the soil likely related to the freezing and thawing of ground ice. "This is a scientist's dream, right here on this landing site," principal investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, Tucson said in a post-landing news conference. Phoenix landed on Mars after a 10-month, 422 million-mile journey. After a week checking out its science instruments, the lander will begin a 90-day digging mission to study whether the northern polar region possesses the raw ingredients needed for life to emerge. Phoenix joins the twin rovers on the Martian surface, which have been exploring the equatorial plains since 2004. Unlike the mobile rovers, Phoenix was designed to stay in one spot and dig trenches in the soil. Early indications show the lander is healthy, said Barry Goldstein, project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The images confirm the lander unfurled its solar panels, hoisted its weather mast and unwrapped the protective covering of its 8-foot-long robotic arm. It'll be several days before the arm will be unstowed. "Everything just worked like a charm," said Goldstein, who kept up a JPL tradition by passing out bags of lucky peanuts on landing day. Mission control erupted in cheers when a radio signal from Phoenix was detected after a hair-raising plunge through the atmosphere that required the lander to slow itself down from over 12,000 mph to a 5 mph touchdown using a combination of friction, parachute and thrusters. Mission managers pumped their fists and hugged one another after the confirmation signal was received. "They will be remembered forever that they are the first people to explore the polar region of Mars. There's no telling what discoveries would be seen over the next 90 days," said JPL director Charles Elachi. It's the first successful soft landing on Mars since the twin Viking landers touched down in 1976. Rovers Spirit and Opportunity used a combination of parachutes and cushioned air bags to bounce to the surface four years ago. Phoenix avoided the fate of another polar explorer, the Mars Polar Lander, which crashed into the Martian south pole after prematurely shutting off its engines in 1999. Phoenix inherited the hardware of a lander that was canceled after the Polar Lander disaster and carried similar instruments flown on the ill-fated 1999 mission. |
