watch Phoenix land on Mars live here

[Jerry_111]

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

this new lander's landing on the north pole later today, using rocket boosters to stabilize its descent. The last time we tried doing this was back in 1999 -- the Mars Polar Lander -- and it kind of pummelled into the north pole. crashed.

here's an animation of phoenix landing:

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080525.html

 

[kattmat]

Just another two hours left now, here are a couple of useful links!

http://twitter.com/MarsPhoenix

http://www.marslive.co.uk/

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/blogs/index.html

 

[Lucid]

Cool, I'll be keeping an eye on this for sure.

 

[hool10]

New Mars rover landing in 12min!

Sorry for the late notice but I just noticed it too.
http://www.nasa.gov/55644main_NASATV_Windows.asx

 

[Jerry_111]

not a rover, its a stationary lander. cheaper and quicker to build.

 

[Crash]

Pretty cool...watching it now....

 

[Seppo]

lets hope for a malfunction

 

[TCfromBN]

Touchdown!

 

[Seppo]

haha the collective applaus, guys hugging each other... it's like a movie

 

[hool10]

Oh sweet the eagle has landed with a perfect landing! What does this thing do? Can it transmit HD signals like HD video and photos?

 

[Seppo]

there isn't a single guy in the room who wasn't wearing glasses

 

[Crash]

I can't wait until they find proof of the crystal skulls....

 

[Jerry_111]

purpose of the mission is to test for signs of microscopic life in the north pole, the icy regions of mars. i remember reading about seeing if this location could be a potential candidate for a human mission to land in.

 

[hool10]

The mission of the Phoenix is to analyze the soils and permafrost of Mars' arctic tundra for signs of life, either past or present.

They might find the crystal skulls after all.

Seven minutes is all it takes for a spacecraft traveling nearly 13,000 mph to hit the Martian atmosphere, slam on the brakes and reach the ground. During that time, onboard computers will be working at a manic pace as the spacecraft deploys its parachute, jettisons its heat shield, extends its three legs, releases the parachute and finally fires its thrusters to bring it down for a soft landing.

296-day, 422 million-mile journey Sunday, with about a 50-50 chance of a successful touchdown on the arctic plains of the Red Planet, NASA officials said.

Also lots of nerdy men hugging and kissing each other. :dork: http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/space/05/25/mars.lander/index.html

 

[Seppo]

when are they going to start drilling the hole for the nukes?

 

[theotherguy]

That was pretty awesome.

"We're receiving a positive radar signal now. Phoenix is through the atmosphere"

*Huge cheer*

"Parachute deployed"

*Huge cheer*

"Heat shield jettisoned, standing by"

*cheer*

"Beginning deceleration. Thrusters on. The lander is free of the parachute"

*Even bigger cheer*

"Approaching at 5000 meters, 4000, 3000, 2000, 1500, 1400, one kilometer, 800 meters, 500 meters, 300 meters, 150 meters, 100 meters, 50, 40, 30, 27, 20, 15, 10 meters, Phoenix has landed!"

*Enormous cheer, everyone high fives, party favors are handed out*

 

[Crash]

*Enormous cheer, everyone high fives, party favors are handed out*

After all the racing I've watched today, I was waiting for someone to break out the champagne, or milk....

 

[Ren.182]

Glad it landed safely

Now lets find some aliens

 

[kattmat]

First pictures up, looks like expected: very flat, but note the polygonal cracks in the surface!

http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/images/gallery/lg_331.jpg

 

[Krynn72]

OMG THERES A SKULL!!!!!!!1111

caps

 

[Planetary]

Watched the whole thing start to finish. Dashing back and forth from laptop to desktop to the TV and CNN, everyone wondered what was wrong with me.

Tilt is a quarter degree from horizontal, very flat, exactly what they were looking for.

 

[Atomic_Piggy]

First pictures up, looks like expected: very flat, but note the polygonal cracks in the surface!

http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/images/gallery/lg_331.jpg

Mars is boring. Lets go to Venus. I hear the beaches are lovely this time of year, and the extreme pressure only enhances the effect.

 

[ríomhaire]

watch Phoenix land on Mars

 

[The Monkey]

Is the landing on youtube yet?

 

[Iced_Eagle]

Is the landing on youtube yet?

Yea sure

Here's what it looks like in artist form: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHAsRjcLP4o

Or here's Mission Control a little bit before it lands: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seuiOSHCsUA

*Edit* Or here's Nasa's official video: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/multimedia/index.html

They mix the mission control and artist representation and cut out the boring parts.

 

[Ennui]

Go NASA!

 

[Vegeta897]

Oh my god I lol'd hard at OBJECTION!

 

[highlander]

yay...let's find us some aliens!

 

[Jintor]

It's kinda sad that if you were to say Phoenix to me, my first thought would not be of mythical flame birds, or space-discovery-things, but instead, of lawyers.

 

[Omnomnick]

Why not a Lawyer with a fire-bird on his back...


Anyway, aliums ftw!!!!11!