2 June 2008
Holy Cow and Snow Queen
It looks like there is mounting evidence that two flat, light-toned deposits beneath the Phoenix lander, known as “Holy Cow” and “Snow Queen” are pieces of ice exposed when the rockets blew away a thin coating of soil. As always, Emily has all the gory details. I don’t have much to add other than to reiterate how amazingly awesome it would be for there to be ice that close to …
31 May 2008
Phoenix: Good News / Bad News
Bad news first: it looks like the Thermal Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA) instrument may have a short circuit in the mass spectrometer. I really hope they get this cleared up, because as I discussed before, the mass spectrometer is crucial in determining whether there are organic molecules or possibly life in any soil samples. Now the good news: Images from the robotic arm camera are showing a smooth, light-toned substance …
30 May 2008
What job would you do in space?
CNN has a weird quiz to help you find out. Apparently I’m the biodome gardener. Sounds fun to me, though my houseplants here on earth tend to either dry out or die from overwatering… Apparently this is part of a snazzy site that CNN is running called “Just Imagine“. The idea seems to be to speculate what life will be like in 2020. I don’t know how this made it …
Phoenix Rock Names and Arm Animation
Seems like all I do these days is link to the Planetary Society blog, but I’ve come to accept that. Check out these animated gifs that Emily put together of the Phoenix arm and bucket being unstowed! Also, the science team has apparently named some of the rocks at the landing site. I never cease to be amused by the names that scientists come up with for rocks on Mars. …
29 May 2008
Ancient Flying Reptiles Hunted on Foot
This azhdarchid doesn’t need to be flying to eat you. I know, I know. This has nothing to do with Mars. But it’s my blog, and I never really grew out of the “dinosaurs are awesome! I want to be a paleontologist!” phase that many kids go through. So, that said, check this out. The Daily Mail has an article about new research that shows that at least one type …
"Listen" to Phoenix Land
Check it out, the Mars Express spacecraft tracked the radio signal from Phoenix as it landed, and that signal has now been converted to audio for you listening pleasure. Although there is a certain “gee whiz” factor in things like this, I find it to be pretty confusing and misleading. The sound that you are hearing is not the sound of Phoenix landing, it is the radio beacon being doppler …
Phoenix Panorama!
I just found out from the Planetary Society blog that Phoenix has completed it’s first full panorama! Check it out! There are some tiles that are a lot darker than others, which I hope is a problem that they will be sorting out. But check out that unstowed arm! Let’s start digging!
Carnival of Space #56
There’s a new Carnival of Space up over at the Lifeboat Foundation Blog, and it is chock-full of all sorts of great posts about Phoenix, as well as a few posts about other things in space in case you’re getting a little Pheonix-weary. Check it out!
27 May 2008
HiRISE is my Hero
Another amazing image from HiRISE, this time of the Phoenix lander, heat shield and parachute on the ground: Phil Plait over at Bad Astronomy has a detailed interpretation of what we’re seeing here. What struck me was how much darker the landing site looks compared to its surroundings. The dust on Mars is generally lighter than the rocks underneath, so the dark halo around the lander means that its rockets …
Phoenix Descends with a Dramatic Backdrop
You know the mind-blowingly awesome HiRISE image of Phoenix descending to the martian surface on its parachute? It just got better. Check this out: Phoenix was actually in front of the 10km Heimdall crater from HiRISE‘s perspective! It looks like it is falling right into the giant hole in the ground! Phoenix actually didn’t land in the crater but still. Best. Picture. Ever. (Hat-tip to Emily at the Planetary Society …
