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29 October 2008
It's Getting Dark…
Phoenix is losing power by the day as it gets darker near the Martian north pole. This press release discusses how NASA engineers are trying to keep Phoenix alive for as long as possible. Most notably, they are turning off the heater for the robotic arm, meaning it will probably be unable to move very soon. For more information, check these posts at the Planetary Society blog and Cumbrian Sky. …
28 October 2008
Mars Art: Linear Dunes near the North Pole
I am starting a new thing. Every week, I will browse through data from current and past Mars missions and find an “artistic” image to post here. I’ll talk briefly about what the image says scientifically, but mostly this is about eye-candy and the crossover between science and art, which I have talked about before. Without further ado, here’s your first piece of “Mars Art”: This image is a HiRISE …
29 September 2008
Phoenix Sees Snow and Carbonates on Mars!
Big news from the Phoenix lander! A new JPL press release just came out, announcing the detection of snow and carbonates on Mars! From the press release: A laser instrument designed to gather knowledge of how the atmosphere and surface interact on Mars has detected snow from clouds about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) above the spacecraft’s landing site. Data show the snow vaporizing before reaching the ground. “Nothing like this …
24 September 2008
Phoenix Self-Portrait
Check it out! Phoenix recently used its arm camera to take a photo of its mast cameras, just like a tourist taking a self-portrait with their digital camera held at arm’s length.
19 September 2008
Dancing Dust!
Stuart Atkinson has a cool animation of dust grains moving around in Phoenix’s optical microscope. Unexpected, but way cool! Check it out!
2 September 2008
How to Defrost Phoenix
Bad Astronomy brought this amusing Foxtrot comic to my attention (click for the whole thing). Now, to get to work on a proposal to use this to extend the Phoenix mission lifetime by periodically baking off any accumulated CO2 ice…
31 August 2008
Mars Rovers Twitter!
Following the lead of their younger, hipper cousin Phoenix, the Rovers now have their own Twitter page. Check it often to get the latest rover news!
22 August 2008
Carnival of Space #68 and First Frost for Phoenix!
This week’s Carnival of Space is up over at Crowlspace! Be sure to check out this fantastic picture of the first image of water frost on the martian surface from Phoenix over at The Meridiani Journal. Eventually, Phoenix will be covered with about 3 feet of frost and ice. So, while this is a very cool thing to see, some might find the first signs of frost a little depressing.
7 August 2008
Phoenix Update: Pondering Perchlorates
Since we last checked in on Phoenix, the team has had made remarkable progress in investigating the lander’s local environment. The team has: – Finished the mission-success panorama – Officially detected water ice in TEGA – Investigated the bizzarely clumpy and sticky nature of the landing site’s soil – Observed changes in the ice deposits under the lander – Continued to monitor the summer polar weather – Received a mission …
26 July 2008
Pretty Phoenix Pictures
Stuart Atkinson from Cumbrian Sky has just created a second blog to serve as a gallery of cool images from Phoenix that he has put together. Go check it out, he has some really great pictures!
