Working on Mars
The Phoenix Mars lander has finally begun its two day process of extending its scientific arm. The process is takes two days due to the complex tasks that the lander needs to do in order to safely deploy the arm. NASA had hoped that the lander would be done extending its arm by Thursday, however the process was started a day late due to a ‘technical glitch’.
The outage occurred Tuesday in one of two NASA satellites circling Mars when a radio shut off before it could relay commands to the lander to get the 8-foot arm moving, Goldstein said.
Link: CNN - (AP) Tucson, Arizona
Once the arm is extended it will begin to dig in the soil in search for ice. The lander will also analyze the soil to determine whether or not it contains trace amount of organic compounds — which are essential for life.
The $420 million mission is led by University of Arizona, Tucson, and managed by JPL
Justin
Tags: Life, Mars, NASA, phoenix lander, University of Arizona
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