by Pranesh Selvaraj
Phoenix stands as a testament to human ingenuity, resilience, and the relentless pursuit of knowledge. The mission’s achievement continues to influence Mars exploration and paved the way for the Mars science laboratory mission (curiosity) and the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover.
On August 4, 2007, a Delta II rocket launched the Phoenix spacecraft with a mission to determine whether Mars can support life. Headed by the University of Arizona under the direction of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the US $ 420 million Phoenix Mars mission scheduled to last 90 sols (Martian solar days, or about 92 Earth days) was the first in NASA’s smaller cost scout programmes. It was designed to study the history of water and the potential for habitability on the red planet.
The Rise
The mission was built on the ashes of NASAs cancelled Mars Surveyor 2001 lander and the ill-fated Mars polar lander, which crashed during landing in December 1999. Much of the probe and its instruments were built from hardware based on or recycled from that earlier mission.
On May 25, 2008, the Phoenix lander arrived on Mars, landing in an area informally named Green Valley, which was expected to contain the most significant ice concentration outside the poles. In the continuous pursuit of water on Mars, the polar region is an excellent place to probe as water ice is found there. Phoenix lander landed farther north than any previous mission at a latitude equivalent to northern Alaska’s. Peter Smith principal investigator for the mission said: “If you want to search for a habitable zone in the arctic permafrost, this is the place to go.”
The mission overview was designed for 90 Martian days (sols). The primary objective was to study the polar climate weather at around 70 degrees north latitude, shed light on the Martian surface and atmosphere, and capture atmospheric characteristics during its descent, providing a unique vertical profile of the Martian atmosphere. To examine the geomorphology and physical properties of the near-surface of the northern plains with a particular focus on the role of water. To analyse the organic content of aqueous mineralogy chemistry and the potential biological prospects of the Martian regolith.
The Findings
The Phoenix mission to Mars yielded groundbreaking discoveries that significantly advanced the understanding of the red planet. The most notable was the confirmation of water ice on Mars, a historic first in the scientific community. The spacecraft collected a soil sample from a two-inch deep trench which contained ice. This discovery marked the presence of water on Mars for the first time, was a testament to the mission’s success and left the scientific community in awe.
According to NASA, the mission’s biggest surprise was the discovery of perchlorate, an oxidising chemical on Earth that is food for some microbes and potentially toxic for others. The subsequent finding shaped astrobiology research as scientists investigated the implication of its anti-freeze properties.
However, Phoenix did not 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 2.5 miles above the spacecraft’s landing site. Still, it had now vaporised before it touched the ground.
The Phoenix 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. A 2009 research paper Geology of the Mars Phoenix Lander Site by Michael C Hecht observed that 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.
In addition, NASA’s press release on May 26, 2008, stated that the Phoenix cameras also returned more than 25000 pictures from sweeping vistas to the atomic level using the first atomic force microscope ever used outside Earth. The duration of the mission exceeded original expectations. The Phoenix lander lasted a little over two months longer than its targeted three-month lifetime before succumbing to the bitter temperatures of the Martian winter several days after receiving a final signal from the lander. Following several dust storms that blocked sunlight from reaching the lander’s solar panels, thus draining its power, engineers could not contact the craft and declare the mission concluded.
After the success of the Phoenix mission to Mars, subsequent missions included the Curiosity rover in 2012, the Insight Mars landing in 2018, and the Mars Perseverance rover in 2020. These are some other significant space missions to Mars by NASA following the success of the Phoenix mission. The Phoenix mission’s contributions continue to influence Mars exploration and pave the way for future missions, offering hope for future space explorations.
Following NASA’s success, Russia and China jointly launched the Mars mission called Fobos-Grunt. However, the mission was a failure due to a malfunction. The spacecraft got stuck in Earth’s orbit, eventually falling back to the Earth. At the latest, the ExoMars launch gave Russia another chance at the red planet. As the European Space Agency leads the ExoMars programme and is building most of its hardware, Russia is providing the Proton rockets for both launches, as well as some flight gear and science instruments.
India’s Mars mission, called the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) or Mangalyaan, was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on November 5, 2013. It made India the first Asian nation to reach Martian orbit and the first country in the world to do so on its maiden attempt. The mission aimed to develop technologies required for interplanetary missions and conduct scientific studies of Mars’ surface and atmosphere.
Phoenix stands as a testament to human ingenuity, resilience, and the relentless pursuit of knowledge. The mission’s achievement continues to influence Mars exploration and paved the way for the Mars science laboratory mission (curiosity) and the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover. The data collected by the Phoenix remains a crucial resource for studying Mars, offering insights into the Martian environment and its potential for life.
(The author is a Postgraduate student at the Department of Politics and International Studies, Pondicherry University. The write-up appeared first on the website of the National Institute of Advanced Studies.)