Explanation:
Will Phoenix survive its landing today on Mars?
Phoenix's landing
sequence will ramp up starting at about 7:30 pm
EDT (23:30
UTC) today and last just over an hour.
If all goes well,
one of Phoenix's first images from
Mars will appear on
APODtomorrow.
The Phoenix Lander
is programmed to set down near the
North Pole of Mars,
and, over the next three months, sample alien soil and ice and
look for conditions
conducive for ancient microbiallife.
Shown above is an
artistic animation of what it might look like to see Phoenix land on Mars. In the animated sequence, the
Phoenix
spacecraft arrives at Mars, deploys its breaking
parachute,
jettisons its heat shield, fires it thrusters, lands, unfurls its
solar panels,
deploys its instruments, scoops up some of Mars, and begins its
analysis.
digg_url = 'http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080525.html'; digg_skin = 'compact';
