Facts about Mars Travel with The Phoenix

“MEN FROM MARS???”

If there are men from Mars then the Phoenix will be able to tell us. After a safe landing more then 120,000 miles away from Mother Earth.

The Phoenix was the first successful soft landing on the Red Planet. It achieved this by using a parachute and thrusters rather than protective air bags.

Amazingly enough, The Phoenix (named for the mythological bird reborn from its ashes) was assembled largely from parts manufactured for other spacecraft. Still, this put together space ship has done what six out of eleven similar attempts by the United States, Russia and England did not do and that was get there and land safely!

Since 1976, the twin Viking landings were the last successful landing for the US. Which are still collecting information and data about Mars.

The Phoenix is designed to look for organic material and other signs that life has existed on Mars, or could exist on the planet.

Currently, there are two rovers that have already been exploring the Martian surface for nearly five years. However, the Phoenix is built to stay in one place (similar to our North Pole) and use its robotic arm to dig into the soil and ice. It is also equipped with several miniature chemistry labs to analyze the material it digs up.

I hope this means that we can get the results back sooner. I for one, am really interested in what they are going to find. All ready, there are pictures back that show Mars surface.

In addition to its sophisticated cameras, soil retrievers and mini laboratories, Phoenix carried on its journey a mini DVD created by the Planetary Society called “Visions of Mars.” It holds a library of science fiction stories and art, as well as the names of more than 250,000 people.

Here is some interesting information about the trip.

Mars is over 171 million miles away. But it took a circuitous path of 423 miles to reach the planet, Mars.

The Phoenix was traveling at 12,000 MPH.

It entered Mars atmosphere, from space travel at 26,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

The ship weighs 900 pounds.

Cost 457 Million American Dollars.

The trip took 10 months.

This image provided by NASA, JPL-Caltech and the University of Arizona shows a portion of the Phoenix Mars Lander and the Martian surface after it landed on the planet on Sunday, May 25, 2008.

Baby Boomers have grown up in a world of space exploration and our children probably take it for granted. But none the less, it is a great mystery about other planets.

Buck Rogers started the TV into space exploration and I feel that Star Trek was really the New Frontier that brought space travel into our living rooms. Since then, we have had many OB2′s to guide us through space. The Phoenix is now the last of those and of course not a TV series!

I look at Star Trek and see so many things that we now have…cell phones being the most prominent.

Thank you, those whose minds have taken us into the future and out into space. We are no longer in “The Twilight Zone.”

Here is the NASA site for information about Mars and our exploration there.

World and Space Peace…
~The Baby Boomer Queen~
“WOMEN ARE FROM VENUS!!!”