...Phoenix Launch...The Search for Life on Mars begins in 24 days !!!

The rovers and other observers have been a search
primarily for signs of water on Mars for obvious
reasons. But the rovers lacked the equipment
for tests of life. Phoenix takes the next step.


Phoenix Mar Mission Home
http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/


"The Phoenix lander is going to an area of Mars where water
is believed to exist in the form of ice just below the surface.
This water ice is probably spread fairly uniformly throughout
the northern plains so the lander should be able to uncover
ice wherever it lands."
http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/faq.php


"On the deck, miniature ovens and a mass spectrometer, built
by the University of Arizona and University of Texas-Dallas, will
provide chemical analysis of trace matter. A chemistry
lab-in-a-box, assembled by JPL, will characterize the soil
and ice chemistry. Imaging systems, designed by the University
of Arizona, University of Neuchatel (Switzerland) (providing an
atomic force microscope), Max Planck Institute (Germany) and
Malin Space Science Systems, will provide an unprecedented
view of Mars-spanning 12 powers of 10 in scale.
The Canadian Space Agency will deliver a meteorological station,
marking the first significant involvement of Canada in a mission
to Mars."
http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/mission.php


Science Objectives

Objective 2: Search for Evidence of Habitable Zone and Assess
the Biological Potential of the Ice-Soil Boundary

"Recent discoveries have shown that life can exist in the most
extreme conditions. Indeed, it is possible that bacterial spores
can lie dormant in bitterly cold, dry, and airless conditions for
millions of years and become activated once conditions become
favorable. Such dormant microbial colonies may exist in the
Martian arctic, where due to the periodic wobbling of the
planet, liquid water may exist for brief periods about
every 100,000 years making the soil environment habitable."

"Phoenix will assess the habitability of the Martian northern
environment by using sophisticated chemical experiments to
assess the soil's composition of life giving elements such as
carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and hydrogen. Identified by
chemical analysis, Phoenix will also look at reduction-oxidation
(redox) molecular pairs that may determine whether the potential
chemical energy of the soil can sustain life, as well as other
soil properties critical to determine habitability such as pH
and saltiness."

"Despite having the proper ingredients to sustain life, the Martian
soil may also contain hazards that prevent biological growth, such
as powerful oxidants that break apart organic molecules. Powerful
oxidants that can break apart organic molecules are expected
in dry environments bathed in UV light, such as the surface of Mars.
But a few inches below the surface, the soil could protect organisms
from the harmful solar radiation. Phoenix will dig deep enough into
the soil to analyze the soil environment potentially protected from
UV looking for organic signatures and potential habitability."
http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/science03.php


And two great videos at this site.

Scroll down and watch the rough cut entry, descent
and landing video. The landing looks rather risky eh?

And just below that video is a wonderful collection of
various water features on Mars, comparing valley networks
deltas, channels, oxbows etc between earth and mars.
http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/videos.php


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