Was There Ever Life on Mars?
Was there ever life on Mars? That’s a question scientists have debated for centuries and they are hoping that the Phoenix will bring back the answer.
The Phoenix Lander is a robotic spacecraft, equipped with a backhoe and a chemistry lab. It was launched on August 4, 2007 and is expected to reach Mars next Sunday. But, this mission is no picnic. The Phoenix has to separate from the rocket and then dive at 12,600 mph for 7 ½ miles into the Martian atmosphere.
If it makes it that far, a parachute will open and rockets will fire reducing the speed to 5 mph. If all of that works, Phoenix will touch down on the north pole of Mars.
This is not NASA’s first try at the Mars plan. There have been 13 landing attempts on Mars by the U.S., Russia and Britain and only 5 have been successful. NASA has all five but also had a crash in 1999.
If Phoenix makes it next Sunday, NASA could be seeing images from Mars the next morning. Scientists at the University of Arizona will direct the Phoenix to analyze the soil dug by the 8 foot arm of the robotic spacecraft. They will try to determine if there is any sign of conditions that would suggest there was once life on the planet. They are looking for organic molecules made up of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen.
The Mars mission is a multinational event that will cost $457 million.
Source: Houston Chronicle
BLOG QUESTION
Do you think missions like this trip to Mars are worth the money?
The Phoenix Lander is a robotic spacecraft, equipped with a backhoe and a chemistry lab. It was launched on August 4, 2007 and is expected to reach Mars next Sunday. But, this mission is no picnic. The Phoenix has to separate from the rocket and then dive at 12,600 mph for 7 ½ miles into the Martian atmosphere.
If it makes it that far, a parachute will open and rockets will fire reducing the speed to 5 mph. If all of that works, Phoenix will touch down on the north pole of Mars.
This is not NASA’s first try at the Mars plan. There have been 13 landing attempts on Mars by the U.S., Russia and Britain and only 5 have been successful. NASA has all five but also had a crash in 1999.
If Phoenix makes it next Sunday, NASA could be seeing images from Mars the next morning. Scientists at the University of Arizona will direct the Phoenix to analyze the soil dug by the 8 foot arm of the robotic spacecraft. They will try to determine if there is any sign of conditions that would suggest there was once life on the planet. They are looking for organic molecules made up of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen.
The Mars mission is a multinational event that will cost $457 million.
Source: Houston Chronicle
BLOG QUESTION
Do you think missions like this trip to Mars are worth the money?
3 Comments:
We are divided about whether this project is worth the money spent. Since the world is such a crowded place, if people could live on Mars the world would be less crowded. If we hadn't taken a trip to the Moon, we might still be saying that the moon is made of swiss cheese. The people who are successful probably will become famous. We are still wondering whether there are aliens on Mars. It might not be worth it because out of 13 tries, only 5 worked. If the spacecraft crashed then it is a waste, but if it gets to Mars then it will be money well spent. If that much money is to be spent, then scientists around the world have to think that it is a good project. Maybe for a future expedition, the money will have to be spent after.
Well, I think if I were to go to Mars, I don't want to because there is less than 1% of possibility that we will find something. I would love to go there if there is something interesting, but now it is not. I don't think going to Mars will worth money because I'm sure we won't find anything particulary special. And the other reason why I don't want to go there is because it sounds unsafe. I think it is different from going on a car or airplane (or whatever). We are going on a space shuttle which is 50% safe and 50% unsafe.
No and that is definite. First if there was life does it really matter in progressing the Earth life. We have many problems so lets put the funding in something useful. Finding current life on Mars is important but trying to find the past is a waste of time. If people can learn something from these trips then it is fine but to just satisfy curiousity when there are many international problems is just plain dumb.
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