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The Phoenix Has Landed

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the zomg-we-found-ponys dept.

Iddo Genuth writes "Precisely at 7:53PM EST, the "Phoenix Mars Lander" touched-down on the desert-like surface of Mars. Since its launch on August 4th, 2007, the spacecraft has covered more than 680,752,512 kilometers, traveling at average speeds of around 120,000 km/hr. Upon arriving at its destination, the Phoenix will begin its exploration of our intriguing neighbor planet, in a mission to help astronomers resolve at least some of the many questions regarding Mars. The key question remains: can the Red Planet support some form of life?" Hella grats to our nerd brethren — you looked great on the Science channel. Yes I'm watching this live. Can't wait to see what happens next.
Update: 05/26 03:0 GMT by KD : zof sends a link to the first pictures from Phoenix.

5 of 369 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Doesn't even have to be live life... by Brian+Gordon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What are the chances of puttering around for a few hundred meters on earth and randomly finding a human skeleton?..

  2. Re:live by explosivejared · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Well, if you are going to be pedantic nothing is really live because relativity precludes true simultaneity. I think we all understand what he means.

    All in all, it does my heart well to see such mainstream coverage of the event. My parents, who are sort of aloof to anything scientific, are even paying attention to it on the 24 hour news. It's these sort of things turning into moments that reach across all of society that inspire new generations of kids to become scientists.

    --
    I got a catholic block.
  3. Re:Doesn't even have to be live life... by Jeremi · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A human skeleton? Not very high. But any skeleton? In areas that used to be underwater, you often find fossilized imprints of shellfish, etc, every few inches.

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    I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
  4. What gets me is... by jamstar7 · · Score: 5, Insightful
    all the work that went into the mission so far that made this look easy. It wasn't. But they did a helluva job on the prep work to make it look like business as usual.

    Great job, JPL & Arizona!

    --
    Understanding the scope of the problem is the first step on the path to true panic.
  5. Re:live by Tablizer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's these sort of things turning into moments that reach across all of society that inspire new generations of kids to become scientists.

    So they can shit bricks for 7 minutes as their billion-dollar experiment and paycheck hang in the balance? It's one thing to watch on CNN from the comfort of your big fluffy chair, but remember these people had their asses on the line. People lost their jobs when the Polar Lander crashed in the 90's.

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    Table-ized A.I.