NASA Approves Mars Phoenix Launch |
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Written by spacetravel.org
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Saturday, 04 June 2005 21:51 |
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On June 2, 2005, NASA approved launching the Phoenix lander in August 2007. Phoenix will land in the far-northern Martian plains, similar to Earths permafrost regions, where it will look for potential habitats for water ice, and for possible indicators of past or present life. Phoenix is the first project in NASAs Mars Scout Program of competitively selected missions, relatively low-cost complements to the core missions of NASAs Mars exploration program.
Phoenix, a stationery lander, is specifically designed to measure volatiles, such as water and organic molecules, in Mars' north polar region. It has a robotic arm that allows it to dig down to the Martian ice layer and deliver samples to analytical instruments on the landers deck.
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