Write your abstract here. Cosmic-Ray Strike Triggers Delay -Course
Correction Sets Phoenix on Target for Mars.
One of the things that really fascinate is space travel. When you think
about the closest Solar System neighbors Earth has, Mars is on your
list. It is, essentially, right next door. But when you look at the
location of the Phoenix Mars Lander currently en route, it sort of
boggles the mind. NASA today announced that the Phoenix, part of the Mars Scout
program, made its second course adjustment since it launched in August.
The course
correction – accomplished as a result of a 45.9 second burn
using its four trajectory correction thrusters – now puts it on target
for Mars. Currently, the Phoenix is on target to reach Mars seven months from the
correction date, Wednesday the 31st, thus seeing it arrive in orbit of
Mars May 25, of next year. Its
mission is the first purely scientific
mission to Mars, with its primary focus being on the Martian arctic. It
will use a robotic digging arm to investigate whether the icy soil
would have been favorable for microbial life. If you were following the mission from the start, you may be aware that
this second course correction had been scheduled to take place a week
ago. However, due to an unexpected hit by cosmic rays, Fantastic Four
style, it had been postponed.A cosmic ray strike is planned for by mission control, and everything
went smoothly. The strike occurred on October the 6th, and caused a
disruption in one of the memory chips. As per programming, the Phoenix
reverted to a precautionary standby, allowing mission controllers to
work through a step by step procedure to understand and deal with the
incident. "Our engineers responded in a very careful and deliberate manner. Since
this was a very well-understood anomaly, it was a good experience for
the team," said Phoenix Project Manager Barry Goldstein of NASA''s Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. As mentioned, this is the second of a series of course corrections
allowed for by the mission. The first occurred on August the 10th, six
days after it launched. The intentional launch offset was to ensure
that the third stage of Phoenix would not strike Mars. Prior to the
successfully completed second course correction, the trajectory would
have taken Phoenix past Mars by about 95,000 kilometers (59,000 miles). "The first and second trajectory correct maneuvers were designed
together," said JPL''s Brian Portock, chief of the navigation team for
Phoenix. "We gain a more efficient use of fuel by splitting the
necessary adjustment into two maneuvers." While there are four further opportunities for course corrections
allowed by plans, they are nothing more than fine tuning, according to
Portock. Lastly, and possibly of most importance right now, was the successful
test of the Canadian built weather station that is aboard Phoenix. In
addition to its primary mission, Phoenix will be monitoring the weather
on Mars. "With the activation of Canada''s weather station, the testing of the
precision lidar instrument and the temperature and pressure sensors, we
will be receiving our first space weather report from Phoenix as it
continues its voyage to Mars," said Alain Berinstain, Director of
Planetary Exploration and Space Astronomy at the Canadian Space Agency. It is times like this that, in some respects, provide my generation
with a small idea of what our parents generation may have felt when men
first started heading to the moon. And though no one has left a
footprint on Mars yet, there is every indication that that won’t be too
far away. Galaxy News Reported November 2nd, 2007.