Science Behind Things

Looking for Life in All the Wrong Places

July 10, 2007 on 5:36 pm | In Astronomy | No Comments

Beginning with a launch between August 3rd and 24th, NASA plans to send yet another lander, named Phoenix, to Mars to look for life.  This one will use advanced methods to search under the topsoil for frozen ice beneath.  Landing in the northern part of the planet at a latitude equivalent to northern Alaska, in the Spring, will enable it to avoid dust storms such as those that Opportunity and Spirit are now enduring in the southern part of Mars, and Phoenix will be closer to the northern polar ice cap which is made up of both water ice and dry ice (frozen Carbon Dioxide).

The 18 by 5 foot lander will not move, but remain where it is, studying the soil with its 7 1/2 foot long arm, while ice may be only inches under the soil surface, based on NASA’s orbiting Odyssey orbiter’s estimates from 2002.  Phoenix will look at the water ice when it melts, to see if it contains microbes.  I believe it won’t (based on Biblical and scientific arguments from a previous post).

In addition to checking the soil and water, Phoenix will monitor polar weather and the interaction of the atmosphere with the surface to get a good idea of how hospitable Mars is.

Phoenix is designed to last 3 months, but if it is a typical lander it’ll last much longer.