Logan Narcomey

Phoenix Mars Mission

Introduction

• Phoenix was part of the Mars Scout Program, which was to send low-cost robotic missions to Mars.

• First mission to Mars led by a public university (the University of Arizona)

• Used instruments from two previous unsuccessful missions: the Mars Polar Lander and Mars Surveyor 2001 Lander

• Launched from Earth on August 4th, 2007

• Landed on Mars on May 25th, 2008

Goals: Water and Habitability

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

Goal 1: Habitability of Mars

• Phoenix is to land in an arctic plain, close to the North Pole, an area known from previous observations to be water-rich.

• It will use its robotic arm to dig into the soil to look for ice and to chemically analyze a sample of the regolith.

Image credit: NASA/JPL/UA

Goal 2: Climate of Mars

• Phoenix is to land near the pole during a period in the Martian year when the polar ice cap is in retreat (the outset of the northern summer), exposing newly thawed soil.

• Phoenix will also gather weather data critical to understanding the current and past climate of Mars.

Goal 3: Geology of Mars

• Based on images of the surface and surrounding area and analysis of the soil sample, Phoenix will help determine the geological and mineralogical composition of the Martian arctic.

• Minerals and features it finds could help answer questions about the presence and extent of water in Mars’s past.

Goal 4: Preparing for Humans

• What Phoenix discoveries about water, soil chemistry, and perhaps geology will help us understand the resources available for human explorers of Mars in the future.

Landing Site

Landing site

Landing site

• Standard procedure for landers is for the first post-landing image to be of one of the feet, to ensure it has landed upright on stable ground.

Footpad image taken 15 minutes after landing

• Mission designed as a lander (instead of a rover) due to the landing site terrain being homogeneous.

Instruments

• RA (Robotic Arm)

• RAC (Robotic Arm Camera)

• MECA (Microscopy, Electrochemistry, and Conductivity Analyzer)

• SSI (Surface Stereo Imager)

• TEGA (Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer)

• MARDI (Mars Descent Imager)

• MET (Meteorological Station)

Robotic Arm

• Four degrees of motion– Up/down

– Side/side

– Forward/back

– Rotate scoop

• Central to mission (Phoenix had to collect samples)

MECA

• Wet chemistry lab determines pH, abundance of various mineral cations and anions, and conductivity.

SSI

• Gives stereo images for distances from objects (plus good PR)

• Built by UA and UT, Dallas

• Eight ovens to each be used only ONCE to analyze unique soil samples

TEGA (Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer)

• A scoop of Martian soil revealed a white substance underneath, which had partially disappeared after 4 Martian days. This was interpreted to be ICE!

Meteorological Station (MET)

• Telltale measured wind direction and speed

• Uses LIDAR to measure size and density of atmospheric particles

Weather data

Taken on January 6th, 2010