Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Sep 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008dps....40.5602s&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #40, #56.02; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 40, p.500
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
May 25, 2008 the Phoenix Mission landed on the northern plains of Mars and began an in situ investigation of a region known to be rich in water ice. A bright hard layer was quickly found, both under the lander exposed by the landing thrusters and at the bottom of a trench. Speculation that the hard material was cemented soil or a salt layer instead of ice was dispelled when scrapings of the bright material sublimated after a few sols. Phoenix brings a full complement of instruments to investigate the properties of the ice, soil, and the atmospheric properties of the arctic. By the end of our 90-sol prime mission Phoenix was well on its way to answering the questions posed early in the mission:
How is the ice emplaced?
Is this a habitable zone? Is liquid water periodically available and has it modified the soil mineralogy and chemistry? Are there energy sources suitable for microbes? Are the building blocks for life available?
Determine the polar weather patterns and the transport of water vapor.
A progress report on the scientific return from Phoenix will be presented.
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