Phoenix Spacecraft Launches Beginning Nine Month Voyage to Mars

A Lockheed Martin built spacecraft, NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander, was successfully launched Saturday morning from Cape Canaveral Air Force station. The Mars Lander launched by way of a Delta II rocket provided by the United Launch alliance.

Approximately one and a half hours after the launch, initial contact was made with the spacecraft. This initial contact is called "acquisition of signal." This confirms the successful launch of the craft as it begins its 422 million mile journey over the next nine and one half months. Mars is approximately 121 million miles away from the earth. Phoenix is the first mission of what NASA calls its "Mars Scout Program." The Phoenix Mars Lander is expected to land on the planet Mars on May 25, 2008.

The craft will land on an icy northern section of Mars and will begin digging trenches with its robotic arm into the frozen layers of water. On-board instruments will be able to analyze the soil and the ice, revealing any potential organic compounds and other conditions that would suggest circumstances favorable for life.

The spacecraft program manager at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company said this of the launch events, "The entire series of launch-day events went like clockwork. Launch and initial acquisition is the first of our critical events, and it couldn't have gone smother. I'm thrilled to be on our way. I couldn't be more proud of the team of women and men whose hard work and tremendous dedication are helping make NASA's expanded knowledge of our solar system a reality."

The next several weeks will be busy ones for those monitoring the flight of the Phoenix Mars Lander. Engineers from Lockheed Martin and NASA will monitor the spacecraft around the clock during the Phoenix's journey to Mars. Maneuvering of the craft to keep it on its course to Mars and performing various calibrations are necessary steps the engineers will perform to ensure a successful journey. Additional assistance from individuals at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory will also be provided according to the press release.

Tim Gasparrini, deputy program manager for Phoenix entry, decent and landing at Lockheed Martin stated, "Landing on Mars is the most challenging critical event we execute in planetary exploration. Now that we are safely on the way to Mars, our entry, decent and landing team will draw upon our decades of experience in exploring the universe and focus its energy on a successful landing and surface science operations."

When the Phoenix arrives on Mars in just under a year, our knowledge of the red planet and its conditions will certainly expand.

Sources:

PR Newswire Press Release, http://media.prnewswire.com/en/jsp/includes/contents/printable.jsp?resourceid=3529503

NASA Website, www.nasa.gov

Lockheed Martin Website, http://www.lockheedmartin.com/wms/findPage.do?dsp=fnec&ti=100