One Year Until Phoenix Mars Mission Launch

pipcorona writes "The principal investigator of the Phoenix Mars Lander Mission released an article yesterday describing how the mission is progressing, talking about landing sites and informing the public that they are officially one year away from launch." From the article: "In parallel with the assembly of the spacecraft, our Payload Interoperability Testbed (PIT) in the Tucson Science Operations Center has been integrating engineering models of all the science instruments. Besides validating the integration procedures for the instruments, this facility will be used to verify that all our instruments work as a team-important since they were developed individually. In particular, the digging of soils and delivery of samples to instruments will be thoroughly tested."

Comments

Open letter from Mars to NASA

[alienmole]

Dear NASA,

We were pleased to learn about your upcoming Phoenix mission, and look forward to this opportunity to once again secretly study your technology from our invisible bunkers on the Martian surface. (Whatever you do, don't try to dig below 500m, retaliation will be swift and final.)

On your journey, please keep in mind that Mars uses the metric system. Any space probes detected using "Imperial" units (whose very name are an affront to the Martian Emperor, may he live forever) will be silently deflected by the planetary protection shields.

Yours truly,
Mars Department of Blue Planet Studies and Relations

P.S. Regarding any rumors you may have heard about invasion, don't worry, the chances of anything coming from here are a million to one...

Re:Open letter from Mars to NASA

[rk]

Dear Mars Department of Blue Planet Studies and Relations:

We have decided that you have outlived your usefulness. Our scientists even as we speak are preparing kinetic strikes against your hidden bunkers.

Regards,
The Blue Planet.

Re:Open letter from Mars to NASA

[alienmole]

Dear Blue Planet,

Thank you for bringing the THOR project to our attention. We find your idea to fire projectiles at high speed into our planet rather disturbing. Should you decide to go through with this plan, please keep in mind the following: remember that asteroid strike that wiped out most large mammals on your strangely-colored planet about 65 million of your years ago? That was us.

Yours in peace, for the moment,
Department of Marsland Security

Re:Open letter from Mars to NASA

[Anonymous Coward]

oops. . . was the microphone on???

The Council of Elders is silent

[lobotomir]

I fear something terrible may have befallen K'Breel, or his gellsacs...

Re:Woohoo!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

I couldn't help picturing the Earthlings setting up a Mars landing base, then being overrun by all the native Martian hunams armed with little spears and rocks.

Re:Woohoo!!!

[Ohreally_factor]

I dunno. I'm not sure if it's wise to plan such a launch a whole year in advance. How does anyone involved with the project know what they'll be doing in a year? If they're anything like me, they don't. Not only that, but August is a really bad month for launch dates. Most people are on vacation then. Shouldn't they schedule it for September, after the kids have gone back to school?

Martian Defense

[GMontag]

Oh come on, some of us know that the Martians are just going to shoot this one down too.

There's hope yet...

[GapingHeadwound]

for Dan Quayle.

"Mars is essentially in the same orbit...Mars is somewhat the same distance from the Sun, which is very important. We have seen pictures where there are canals, we believe, and water. If there is water, that means there is oxygen. If oxygen, that means we can breathe."
- Vice President Dan Quayle, Hawaii, 8/11/89 (interview broadcast on CNN, referenced in 9/1/89 Washington Post article: "A Quayle Vision of Mars")

Phoenixes... quayles... same difference.

Name change

[LMacG]

Because of trademark issues with the BIOS manufacturer Phoenix Technologies, the mission name has been changed to Firebird. There are rumors that it may change again before launch.

Closer to the launch date...

[SIInudeity]

Reporter to director of NASA: "Do you think that the launch will proceed on schedule?" Director of NASA: "No. God no."

Re:Oh come on

[jfulcer]

There's this one: http://www.allhatnocattle.net/Mars%20Rovers.jpg

Interesting name choice.

[Nuffsaid]

"Phoenix", eh? They probably hope that it will rise from the ashes after atmospheric entry...