There was a impromptu (?) viewing party to watch it land at Balticon this weekend. I didn't get a chance to get to it, but I did hear the good news shortly thereafter.
I'm glad it landed and is sending back pictures safely, but what bozo decided on the name for the mission? Naming a Mars landing mission after something that self-immolates (despite rising from its own ashes) seems... odd to me.
It's called the Phoenix because the mission came out of the "ashes" of the Mars Surveyor project that was put on hold. From CNN:
The twin to the Mars Polar Lander spacecraft, Phoenix was supposed to travel to Mars in 2001 as the Mars Surveyor spacecraft. They were originally part of the "better, faster, cheaper" program, formulated by then-NASA Administrator Dan Goldin to beef up planetary exploration on a lean budget.
But Polar malfunctioned during its descent into Mars' atmosphere in 1999 and crashed. An investigation concluded that as many as a dozen design flaws or malfunctions doomed the spacecraft.
The failure of that mission, as well as another spacecraft called the Mars Climate Orbiter the same year, led NASA to put future missions on hold and rethink the "better, faster, cheaper" approach. Mars Surveyor went to the warehouse.
But all was not lost. In 2003, Smith proposed a plan to re-engineer the Mars Surveyor and fly it on a mission to look for signatures of life in the ice and dirt of Mars far North. Mars Phoenix, literally and figuratively, rose from the ashes of Surveyor.
What do you think will happen if they do find live on Mars? Even if it's microscopic it will be pretty earthshaking, and when the earth shakes, things change. Will NASA's budget get increased? Will it get cut in half? Will other countries decide they need to lead the way into space exploration? And religion... Woo! So many pockets of faith have their foundations set on humans being the center of the universe, what will they do if life is found on Mars?
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branchandroot
(no subject)
Date: 2008-05-26 02:31 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-05-26 02:48 pm (UTC)There was a impromptu (?) viewing party to watch it land at Balticon this weekend. I didn't get a chance to get to it, but I did hear the good news shortly thereafter.
I hope it finds what they're looking for.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-05-26 03:15 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-05-26 03:21 pm (UTC)The twin to the Mars Polar Lander spacecraft, Phoenix was supposed to travel to Mars in 2001 as the Mars Surveyor spacecraft. They were originally part of the "better, faster, cheaper" program, formulated by then-NASA Administrator Dan Goldin to beef up planetary exploration on a lean budget.
But Polar malfunctioned during its descent into Mars' atmosphere in 1999 and crashed. An investigation concluded that as many as a dozen design flaws or malfunctions doomed the spacecraft.
The failure of that mission, as well as another spacecraft called the Mars Climate Orbiter the same year, led NASA to put future missions on hold and rethink the "better, faster, cheaper" approach. Mars Surveyor went to the warehouse.
But all was not lost. In 2003, Smith proposed a plan to re-engineer the Mars Surveyor and fly it on a mission to look for signatures of life in the ice and dirt of Mars far North. Mars Phoenix, literally and figuratively, rose from the ashes of Surveyor.
Makes sense to me. :-)
(no subject)
Date: 2008-05-26 03:53 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-05-26 05:12 pm (UTC)