Phoenix Mars Mission was a robotic spacecraft on a mission to Mars, specifically the arctic plain of Vastitas Borealis. The Phoenix lander descended on 25 May 2008 to search for environments suitable for microbial life and assess the planet’s habitability. The instruments aboard the lander were used to study the Martian climate and geology and collect samples of soil for analysis.
The Phoenix Mars Mission was led by Peter Smith of the University of Arizona with project management at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and development partner Lockheed Martin. Many universities, research laboratories and other organizations contributed to building and operating the spacecraft through contributions of hardware, software, analyses and personnel.
The total cost of the mission was approximately $420 million (US dollars), which includes $319 million for construction and testing of the three science instruments, $20 million for launch vehicle integration, $40 million in operations costs through end-of-mission, $10 million for science instrument development at Russia’s Space Research Institute (IKI) under a cooperative agreement with NASA, as well as ground support provided by Canada ($5M), Finland ($1M) and Germany ($2M).
The Lander had six legs each about two meters long that terminated in foot pads equipped with thermal sensors to monitor heat flow from below ground. On its underside was a 2 meter wide circular solar array that generated about 140 watts on average which was used to power all onboard systems including batteries that stored energy during nighttime operations or when dust storms reduced sunlight availability. Two UHF antennas also mounted on the bottom provided communication capability between Earth and Phoenix while it operated on Mars’ surface.
A mast extendable up to 4 meters above ground level held cameras along with an Atmospheric Optics Package (AOP) which measured atmospheric opacity caused by suspended dust particles using visible light wavelengths; an Infrared Thermal Imager (IRTF) that imaged temperature variations in targets ranging from 1 meter away up to several kilometers; plus a Robotic Arm Camera (RAC). To move across Martian terrain, Phoenix used wheels attached directly to its legs; however most mobility occurred via ” hopping” where one or more legs would be lifted off the ground allowing another leg or legs touchet down some distance away thereby movingPhoenix in any desired direction. Prior New Horizons images showed polygonal patterns in some equatorial regions interpreted as possibly related tounderground ice crystal growthand collapse cycles; thus selection criteria included landing within 60 degrees latitude where such features might exist as wellas flat terrainto minimize risk associatedwith slopes during landingand allow easy mobility after touchdown..