Phoenix Mars Lander to launch this Saturday

[Reaper]

This Saturday, NASA is expected to launch the Phoenix Mars Lander. The launch will take place between 5-6 a.m. EST.

 

For those of you who don't know, the Phoenix Mars Lander is intended to land on the northern polar cap where there is carbon dioxide and water ice in abundance. By going here, scientists hope to study how the polar regions affect Martian climate, the dynamics and history of water in the polar caps, and maybe even the possibility of life. It is equipped with the capability to analyze soil samples.

 

This mission is intended to make up for the failure of the Mars Polar Lander, and some of the instruments that were designed for that spacecraft will be on the Phoenix.

 

It will travel in an arc for a distance of about 679 million km before finally arriving at its destination.

 

I hope they don't put off or delay the launching, and I certainly hope it doesn't fail.

 

Here is the full story: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2007-084

 

And here is the list of equipment that the Phoenix will bring along:

http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/science05.php

 

Thoughts or comments?