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

[Ron Baalke]

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.

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