Phoenix Reaches Mars; Everything Is The Same
The NASA spacecraft Phoenix landed on Mars today, completing a 9 month journey to the red planet. NASA technicians and scientists were elated at the success of the landing. Historically, only a third of Mars landing missions have been successful, with the other portion failing due to miscalculations, crash landings, or unknown loss of contact. The lander used a powered descent, the first to do so since Viking 1 and 2 in 1976.
Initial pictures show the planet to be in the exact same condition as we last observed it when Opportunity and Spirit landed in 2003. Let me reiterate: Mars is exactly the same as it was 5 years ago. Once again, millions of taxpayers’ dollars were spent towards a mission to Mars that will most likely accomplish a fraction of its initial goals and still manage to excite all the astronomers and scientists at NASA.
Phoenix, designed to look for water and other signs of habitability, is the 5th successful NASA mission to land on Mars. NASA collaborated with the University of Arizona to design and carry the $325 million project. Earlier today, Phoenix landed in the arctic areas of Mars, and will be digging into the ground with a robotic arm to a whopping depth of 0.5 meters below the Martian surface. Pictures are streaming back by the hundreds, and can be viewed here.
