[meteorite-list] Pieces of NASA'S Next Mars Mission are Coming Together (Phoenix)

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed Apr 26 17:26:45 2006
Message-ID: <200604262046.NAA08759_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109 TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov

Natalie Godwin (818) 354-0850
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

Dwayne Brown/Erica Hupp (202) 358-1726/1237
NASA Headquarters, Washington

News Release: 2006-066 April 26, 2006

Pieces of NASA'S Next Mars Mission are Coming Together

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander, the next mission to the surface
of Mars, is beginning a new phase in preparation for a launch
in August 2007.

As part of this "assembly, test and launch operations" phase,
Phoenix team members are beginning to add complex subsystems
such as the flight computer, power systems and science
instruments to the main structure of the spacecraft. The
work combines efforts of Lockheed Martin Space Systems,
Denver; the University of Arizona, Tucson; and NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

"All the subsystems and instruments from a wide range of
suppliers are tested separately, but now we are beginning
the vital stage of assembling them together and testing how
they will function with each other," said JPL's Barry
Goldstein, project manager for Phoenix.

Phoenix will land near the red planet's north polar ice cap
to analyze scooped-up samples of icy soil.

"We know there is plenty of water frozen into the surface
layer of Mars at high latitudes. We've designed Phoenix to
tell us more about this region as a possible habitat for
life," said the University of Arizona's Peter Smith,
principal investigator for the mission.
 
Phoenix is the first mission of NASA's Mars Scout Program of
competitively proposed, relatively low-cost missions to Mars.
The program is currently soliciting proposals for a 2011 Scout
mission.

The Phoenix proposal, selected in 2003, saves expense by using
a lander structure, subsystem components and protective
aeroshell originally built for a 2001 lander mission that was
canceled while in development. The budget for the Phoenix
mission, including launch, is $386 million.

The spacecraft will land using descent thrusters just prior
to touchdown, rather than airbags like those used by the
current Mars Exploration Rovers. As Phoenix parachutes
through Mars' lower atmosphere in May 2008, a descent camera
will take images for providing geological context about
the landing site.

The robotic arm being built for Phoenix will be about 2 meters
(7 feet) long, jointed at the elbow and wrist, and equipped
with a camera and scoop. It will dig as deep as about 50
centimeters (20 inches) and deliver samples to instruments on
the spacecraft deck that will analyze physical and chemical
properties of the ices and other materials. A stereo color
camera will examine the landing site's terrain and provide
positioning information for the arm. The Canadian Space
Agency is providing a suite of weather instruments for
Phoenix.

"The propulsion system and the wiring harness have been added
to the vehicle," said Ed Sedivy, Phoenix program manager for
Lockheed Martin. "We will be loading flight software onto the
flight computer in the next few days. The flight software is
much more mature than typical for a planetary program at this
stage. As soon as the flight computer is mated up, we can
apply external power to the vehicle."

Navigation components, such as star trackers, and communication
subsystems will become part of the spacecraft in coming weeks,
followed by science instruments in the summer.

Phoenix will be shipped to NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Florida,
in May 2007, for final preparations leading up to launch.
Before that, testing in Colorado will subject the spacecraft
to expected operational environments. This includes thermal and
vacuum tests simulating the 10-month trip to Mars and conditions
on Mars' surface. Meanwhile, the mission is preparing a test
facility in Tucson for practicing and testing procedures for
operating the spacecraft on Mars.

JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology,
Pasadena, manages Phoenix for NASA's Science Mission Directorate.
 
For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit

http://www.nasa.gov .

For information about the Phoenix Mission to Mars on the Web,
visit

http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu.

-end-
Received on Wed 26 Apr 2006 04:46:33 PM PDT


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