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Vincent

Banned

From: North Carolina USA

Registered: 2008-04-13

Posts: 623

Re: Phoenix - North Pole Region Lander (PHX)

Now that we can see.

Area 1- silt in low topographic areas from thaws, How long ago is unknown.
Are II -surface discoloration wide spread. Unknown

MRO image of landing site clearly shows these features. If the surface was all red it could not see it either

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Argument expected.
I don't require agreement when presenting new ideas.

-Dana Johnson

cIclops

Member

Registered: 2005-06-16

Posts: 3,230

Re: Phoenix - North Pole Region Lander (PHX)

The wind blows - imaged 28 May 2008 (Sol 2)

... hanging from the top of the mast is a wind telltale. This is a small tube that will be deflected by the wind. The science payload’s stereo camera will record images of the telltale that will be used to determine wind direction and speed. The top of the meteorology mast, at 1.14 meters (3.75 feet) above the deck, is the highest point on the lander.

<snip>

Aarhus University, Denmark, constructed the wind telltale.

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SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 29,431

Re: Phoenix - North Pole Region Lander (PHX)

The time frame means some of the posts for the topic might have been lost..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_(spacecraft)

Mass
    350 kg (770 lb)
Dimensions
    About 5.5 m (18 ft) long with the solar panels deployed. The science deck by itself is about 1.5 m (4.9 ft) in diameter. From the ground to the top of the MET mast, the lander measures about 2.2 m (7.2 ft) tall.

Power
    Power is generated using two gallium arsenide solar panels (total area 3.1 m2 (33 sq ft)) mounted to the cruise stage during cruise, and via two gallium arsenide solar array panels (total area 2.9 m2 (31 sq ft)) deployed from the lander after touchdown on the Martian surface. NiH2 battery with a capacity of 16 A·h.

Phoenix entered the Martian atmosphere at nearly 21,000 km (13,000 mi) per hour, and within 7 minutes had decreased its speed to 8 kilometers per hour (5.0 mph) before touching down on the surface. For unknown reasons, the parachute was deployed about 7 seconds later than expected, leading to a landing position some 25–28 km east, near the edge of the predicted 99% landing ellipse.

A good reason to not use parachutes for landing with the atmosphere being so thin and hard to detect when to open it on the way down.