When was the phoenix mars lander launched

Getting this weight off the ground is no easy feat. A Rocketdyne RSA engine is used in combination with nine strap-on rocket motors.

The RSA is capable of producing , Newtons , pounds of thrust. As stated on the Mars Exploration Rovers webpage , this amount of thrust is equivalent to the force generated by compressing water from 2, fire hoses into a single hose less than 1. After launch, Phoenix will perform various maneuvers to make the transition to the cruise stage.

The spacecraft will deploy its solar arrays and re-orient itself in space. Image credit: Florida Today, copyright allow communication with Earth. One of the most notable came on July 31, , when the spacecraft confirmed the presence of water ice on Mars after successfully collecting a soil sample containing ice from a trench 2 inches 5 centimeters deep.

The historic discovery marked the first time water was sampled on the Red Planet. But Phoenix didn't stop with the discovery of water ice; it also found snow. A laser instrument designed to study the planet's atmosphere detected snow from clouds about 2. Indeed, researchers determined that later into the Martian winter, precipitation likely results in a buildup of water ice on and in the ground.

Experiments on the lander also revealed signs of calcium carbonate , the main component of chalk, along with particles that could be clay.

Phoenix's data collection also suggested that the soil in the arctic plains was covered with a film of liquid water in the last few million years. The evidence for water and potential nutrients "implies that this region could have previously met the criteria for habitability" during portions of continuing climate cycles, researchers wrote in a paper published in the journal Science.

The mission's biggest surprise was the discovery of perchlorate in the Martian soil. A chemical that strongly attracts water, perchlorate made up a few tenths of a percent of the composition of all three soil samples analyzed by Phoenix's laboratory. That water could have been pulled directly from humid Martian air, or liquid water beneath the crust could have combined with salts as a brine that stays liquid at Martian surface temperatures.

The Phoenix spacecraft provided unprecedented insight into Earth's reddest neighbor, and the mission was considered a success. Now, we know that it does snow and that this is part of the hydrological cycle on Mars.

Although the mission is over, the legacy of Phoenix continues, as researchers will spend the next several years unraveling even more Martian mysteries by delving through the wealth of data the spacecraft provided.

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