[X] My Assistant

[RNeuhaus]

This topic is for posts concerning to any preparation of Phoenix Lander Mission to Mars programmed to launch on August 2007 (less than 2 years... but the time will fly)

http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/future/phoenix.html

Overview

The Phoenix mission is the first chosen for NASA's Scout program, an initiative for smaller, lower-cost, competed spacecraft. Named for the resilient mythological bird, Phoenix uses a lander that was intended for use by 2001's Mars Surveyor lander prior to its cancellation. It also carries a complex suite of instruments that are improved variations of those that flew on the lost Mars Polar Lander.

Canada Will Land Instrument On Mars To Study Weather

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-future-05t.html

Rodolfo

[climber]

Aviation Week of this week says they've discovered a crack in the backshell but this will not push back the launch date

[Guest_AlexBlackwell_*]

Phoenix Lander Readied For Mars Exploration
By Leonard David
Senior Space Writer, Space.com
posted: 01 February 2007
05:01 pm ET

Looks like they dodged a Weiler-style bullet:

Goldstein said that in March of last year, the Phoenix project started having “some significant challenges” in bringing the mission in at a $386 million cost cap. The team notified NASA Headquarters of the overrun last August, requesting a new slug of money, he added, roughly $31 million.

At a meeting last week, Goldstein said that NASA officials gave the project a go-ahead, although the final price tag of the mission has yet to be fully vetted. “The vehicle is behaving very nicely. Things are looking good technically as well as with the schedule and where we are headed. We have no threats to launch at this point,” he said.

[Spacecadet]

Sunk cost... the decision shouldn't be to justify past expenditure, but to justify additional future expenditure. You stop and ask, given what it will cost me to finish this hardware and complete the mission, is it worth it? Unless you have grossly awful hardware like the composite LH2 tank on the VentureStar--when you actually are throwing a lot away and starting from scratch--the answer is usually yes. But, then again, the superconducting supercollider proved that sunk construction costs don't commit the government to finishing their projects!

(yes, oversimplified discussion of VentureStar's woes, but the point is that sunk costs don't guarantee that problem programs get the green light to spend more, especially given political climate changes.)

This is also a good way of looking at it. VentureStar is probably a bad example because it is unclear it would have worked at all and even if it did it was far from where Phoenix is now.

Also to comment about "using things that flew before" is often a problem because it is not available. Remember MER/MPL were started over 10 years ago and were designed with reliable technology then. Companies stop making parts after that long (ask Intel for Pentium 200 MMX or a 486) and this is even more true when it involves space qualified parts, which involve a huge amount of paperwork and testing.

[Guest_AlexBlackwell_*]

A couple of recent updates from the Phoenix website:

Mars Mural Unveiling
by Angela Poulson
February 15, 2007
The Phoenix Mission Science Operations Center is proud to announce the unveiling of a twenty- by sixty-foot mural on its south exterior. This artistic celebration of the Phoenix Mission was painted by Alfred Quiroz’s fall 2006 mural painting class as collaboration between the UA School of Art and the UA’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory.

Special Delivery! Flight Units Complete!
by Suzanne M. M. Young
February 14, 2007

What do I know?
by Deborah Bass
February 12, 2007

[punkboi]

It's great that they updated the Phoenix site...but, um, did Deborah Bass repeat those last lines in her blog on purpose? Quite odd. And I'm kinda confused as to what the "flight units" are that Susanne Young is talking about. The hydrazine fuel? They both get 'C's in writing!! J/k

[babakm]

AvWeek (6/10/07): Phoenix Mars Lander Readied for Launch

[punkboi]

NASA's KSC video feed page contains a shot of Phoenix undergoing launch preps...as well as a shot of Dawn's Delta II rocket (with all SRBs now attached)

http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/countdown/video/

[Tom Tamlyn]

Babkm, thanks for posting the link to the outstanding article on Phoenix by AviationWeek's Craig Covault.

It's not only a clear and beautifully organized summary of the basics, but it's also filled with nuggets of insight, comparison, and bits of new (to me) information.

I miss the golden days of the frequent MER press conferences, when we could watch Covault and other experienced science journalists at work. (To say nothing of watching SS and the rest of the MER team.)

TTT

[Airbag]

Guess now that the "scoop" on the scoop is out, I can finally show the picture I took of an early model of the ice abrader at Honeybee Robotics in April 2006. They were working on it then, but it was kind of hush hush...



Seems like they didn't change the design a whole lot based on the AW&ST pictures.

Airbag

[Guest_AlexBlackwell_*]

U-M scientists simulate the effects of blowing Mars dust on NASA's Phoenix lander, due for August launch
University of Michigan News Service
June 14, 2007

[djellison]

I'm reminded of the cliff-top scene from The Big Lebowski

Doug

[Guest_AlexBlackwell_*]

I'm reminded of the cliff-top scene from The Big Lebowski

As Walter said to The Dude: "F--- it, man. Let's go bowling."

[nprev]

It had to happen: the wit and wisdom of the Cohen brothers has finally entered the august domain of UMSF dot com... ...too cool, really!

[dvandorn]

It had to happen: the wit and wisdom of the Cohen brothers has finally entered the august domain of UMSF dot com... ...too cool, really!

So, what you're saying is you went to Mars with a couple of *little* guys, eh?



-the other Doug

[punkboi]

First stage for Phoenix's Delta II rocket now in place at Pad 17-A:

http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/search.cf...rch.cfm?cat=173

(Scroll down since the photos were put in Dawn's gallery section)