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May 25, 2008: NASA's Phoenix spacecraft
landed in the northern polar region of Mars Sunday to begin three months of
examining a site chosen for its likelihood of having frozen water within reach
of the lander's robotic arm.
 Radio signals received at 4:53:44 p.m. Pacific Time (7:53:44
p.m. Eastern Time) confirmed the Phoenix Mars Lander had survived its
difficult final descent and touchdown 15 minutes earlier. The signals took
that long to travel from Mars to Earth at the speed of light.
Mission team members at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.;
Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver; and the
University of Arizona,
Tucson, cheered confirmation of the landing
and eagerly awaited further information from Phoenix later Sunday night.
Among those in the JPL control room was NASA Administrator
Michael Griffin, who noted this was the first successful Mars landing without
airbags since Viking 2 in 1976.
"For the first time in 32 years, and only the third
time in history, a JPL team has carried out a soft landing on Mars," Griffin said. "I
couldn't be happier to be here to witness this incredible achievement."
During its 422-million-mile flight from Earth to Mars
after launching on Aug. 4, 2007, Phoenix
relied on electricity from solar panels. The cruise stage with those solar
panels was jettisoned seven minutes before the lander,
encased in a protective shell, entered the Martian atmosphere. Batteries will
now provide electricity until the lander's own pair
of solar arrays spread open.
"We've passed the hardest part and we're breathing
again, but we still need to see that Phoenix
has opened its solar arrays and begun generating power," said JPL's
Barry Goldstein, the Phoenix
project manager. If all goes well, engineers will learn the status of the
solar arrays between 7 and 7:30 p.m. Pacific Time from a Phoenix transmission relayed via NASA's
Mars Odyssey orbiter.
[Update: The solar arrays have deployed!]
Above:
First pictures beamed back to Earth from Phoenix's arctic landing site. Image
credits: NASA/JPL-Calech/University of Arizona. [more]
The team will also be watching for the Sunday night
transmission to confirm that masts for the stereo camera and the weather
station have swung to their vertical positions.
[Update: The stereo camera and weather station have
swung to their vertical positions.]
"What a thrilling landing! But the team is waiting
impatiently for the next set of signals that will verify a healthy
spacecraft," said Peter Smith of the University
of Arizona, principal investigator
for the Phoenix
mission. "I can hardly contain my enthusiasm. The first landed images of
the Martian polar terrain will set the stage for our mission."
Another critical deployment will be the first use of the
7.7-foot-long robotic arm on Phoenix,
which will not be attempted for at least two days. Researchers will use the
arm during future weeks to get samples of soil and ice into laboratory
instruments on the lander deck.
The signal confirming that Phoenix
had survived touchdown was relayed via Mars Odyssey and received on Earth at
the Goldstone, Calif.,
antenna station of NASA's Deep Space Network.
Check http://www.nasa.gov/phoenix
for updates.
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