Phoenix mission cleared for launch
Posted: Fri, Jun 3, 2005, 9:06 AM ET (1306 GMT)
NASA announced Thursday that it has approved plans to proceed with launch preparations for Phoenix, a Mars lander mission slated for launch in 2007. The agency approved a "delta confirmation review" for the mission, allowing the project team to proceed with development of the spacecraft in preparation for a launch in August 2007. The approval also included unspecified additional funding to ensure the critical entry, descent, and landing phase of the mission could be performed successfully. Phoenix, which uses hardware developed for the cancelled 2001 Mars Surveyor Lander, will touch down in the northern regions of the planet and search for traces of water ice and other volatiles there. Many of the instruments to be flown on Phoenix were originally designed for the Mars Polar Lander mission, which crashed while landing in December 1999. Phoenix is the first "Mars Scout" mission, a new class of relatively low-cost Mars spacecraft.
NASA announced Thursday that it has approved plans to proceed with launch preparations for Phoenix, a Mars lander mission slated for launch in 2007. The agency approved a "delta confirmation review" for the mission, allowing the project team to proceed with development of the spacecraft in preparation for a launch in August 2007. The approval also included unspecified additional funding to ensure the critical entry, descent, and landing phase of the mission could be performed successfully. Phoenix, which uses hardware developed for the cancelled 2001 Mars Surveyor Lander, will touch down in the northern regions of the planet and search for traces of water ice and other volatiles there. Many of the instruments to be flown on Phoenix were originally designed for the Mars Polar Lander mission, which crashed while landing in December 1999. Phoenix is the first "Mars Scout" mission, a new class of relatively low-cost Mars spacecraft.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Wednesday, March 12
Rocket Lab Schedules Two Launches Three Days Apart, Upcoming Mission to Deploy Final Satellites in Kinéis Constellation
Rocket Lab — 5:12 am ET (0912 GMT) Rocket Lab Announces “At The Market” (ATM) Equity Offering Program
Rocket Lab — 5:12 am ET (0912 GMT) Rocket Lab Announces Intention to Acquire Mynaric, Leading Laser Communications Provider, in Latest Strategic Step Toward Becoming an End-to-End Space Company
Rocket Lab — 5:11 am ET (0911 GMT) DOD Probes Commercial GEO-based Situational Awareness Options
Aviation Week — 5:10 am ET (0910 GMT) Chinese Citizen Pleads Guilty to Flying Drone Over Vandenberg Space Force Base
Santa Barbara (CA) Edhat — 5:10 am ET (0910 GMT) |
