Scite of the Day: The Fall of the Phoenix

I am fascinated by geology. In approximately 6 days and 23 hours from the time of this writing, there will be yet another in a long string of events that it has been my privilege to witness: yet another robotic lander will descend to the surface of a neighboring planet.

The Phoenix lander will descend to the surface of Mars next Sunday, and if all goes well, begin beaming back information on the presence of water, ice, and the potential for life on that dry, cold body. NASA's website has a number of videos; also of interest is the Mission Overview page. NASA's websites often seem to me to be designed with media in mind: a few showy pictures, shallow information, and focused on appealing "bites" rather than really promoting understanding and excitement. It's frustrating to hear about an interesting story on the tube, go to NASA hoping for more in-depth info, and find that the blurb is the only information provided. In other words, you can find some interesting stuff, but it's limited, and don't expect in-depth coverage on much of anything.

In contrast, check out the Phoenix Mars Mission site hosted by the University of Arizona. There are some cool static pictures of the current location of the spacecraft from several perspectives. Like the NASA site, this one has a countdown clock showing (to the second) how long until the expected touch-down. Some of the FAQ's are really interesting, and help clarify what will actually take place on the mission. I haven't looked at the kids' section too carefully, but it looks like there might be some good stuff there too.

Landing on Mars has historically been risky at best; fewer than half of such missions have been successful. But the ones that have made it safely to the ground have given us some incredible information. The two rovers, Opportunity and Spirit, have sent back a plethora of stunning images and continue puttering around the surface of the planet (albeit with some signs of old age setting in) after nearly 17 times the engineered lifespan of 90 days. The Phoenix Mission is also expected to continue for about three months, but in this case, the lander will lose solar power after a maximum of 5 months, and will fail at that point.

Between these two sites, you should be able to follow this modern chapter in the long history of human exploration with ease.