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Posted by baalke on July 5, 2007, 3:12 pm
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http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/spotlight/20070705_PHX.html
One Image Planned During Descent of Phoenix
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
July 05, 2007
Extensive testing of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander in preparation for an
August launch has uncovered a potential data-handling problem in time
to
modify plans for use of a camera during the final minutes of arrival
at
Mars.
The testing results led to a decision to take just one photograph with
the spacecraft's Mars Descent Imager. The mission will still be
capable
of accomplishing all of its science goals.
The issue is not the camera itself, which is capable of taking
multiple
downward-looking images of the landing area during the final three
minutes of flight. Tests of the assembled lander found that an
interface
card has a small possibility of triggering loss of some vital
engineering data if it receives imaging data during a critical phase
of
final descent. That possibility is considered an unacceptable risk,
and
the potential problem with the interface card was identified too late
for changing hardware. The card has circuitry that routes data from
various parts of the payload.
The descent camera can store one image internally. The mission's
science
team plans to use that image to place in context observations of the
landing site acquired by the lander's other tools -- including two
cameras, two microscopes, a robotic arm and analytical instruments.
This
single view will show smaller details of the terrain than will be
discernable in images acquired by the High Resolution Imaging Science
Experiment camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which itself
can resolve features smaller than the Phoenix lander.
Preparation of the spacecraft is moving on schedule toward loading
propellant before encapsulating Phoenix into the third stage of its
Delta II launch vehicle in mid-July. A three-week period of launch
opportunity dates begins Aug. 3.
Phoenix will go to an arctic plain where an icy layer is expected to
lie
within arm's reach of the surface. There it will examine whether the
environment beneath the surface has been a favorable habitat for
microbial life. It will also investigate the history of the water in
the
ice and monitor Mars' arctic weather.
Phoenix Mission site <http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/index.php>
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