Phoenix mission on the horizon
The survival of a sensitive machine the size of a golf cart has UA scientists millions of miles away a bit more confident about the future of UA's Mars research.
The successful landing of the NASA rover Opportunity on Mars Saturday night was not only a relief to UA scientists who had a hand in the mission, but a needed boost for the upcoming UA-led Phoenix mission in 2007.
The Phoenix mission, which will look for life on Mars by digging down into the soil several feet, will be the first Mars mission that searches for life below the surface of the planet. The project brought a $325 million NASA grant to the UA last year, the biggest grant in UA history.
"If we were to fail on these recent missions, it will raise the question if the Phoenix mission can get down safely. With the number of successful landings on Mars, it will increase confidence in Phoenix," said Michael Drake, the director of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory.
The Phoenix mission will be run by the UA, the first NASA mission to be run out of Tucson.
Many UA scientists played a role in both the Spirit and Opportunity missions, including Ross Beyer, a doctoral candidate in planetary sciences, and former UA student Chris Lewicki.
Lewicki was involved in the entry and descent of the rovers into and through the Martian atmosphere.
Beyer was involved in the selection of the two landing sites on Mars. He designed a computer program that analyzed the smoothness and slope of the possible landing sites.
The landing sites were about 60 miles by 12 miles.
Opportunity landed at Meridiani Planum, a smooth area that scientists like Beyer hope will be composed of coarse-grained hematite. Hematite is an iron oxide that is formed in the presence of water.
For Beyer, the greatest hurdle in selecting the landing sites was the constant tug of war between the engineers who wanted a safe, flat site, and the geologists who wanted an interesting landscape, often filled with slopes and rocks.
"If the rover doesn't survive its landing, then there will be no data," Beyer said. The process of selecting a landing site took about three years.
The UA has fared well in competing with other universities for federal contracts awarded from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, mission control for the Spirit and Opportunity missions.
In fiscal year 2003, the UA landed approximately $29 million in contracts, more than any other university. Cornell came in second with $8 million.
"The UA Lunar and Planetary Lab creates knowledge, teaches people, but also has a big economic impact to the Tucson community," Drake said. "We make jobs in this town."
From 1997 to 2002, the annual revenue that flowed into Tucson from the LPL was approximately $14 million. UA basketball and football brought in $10 and $12 million, respectively, Drake said in a presentation Saturday night.
"One of the advantages of the UA and the department is that graduate students are given lots of opportunities to work with the scientific community," Beyer said.
A crowd of several hundred UA students, staff and faculty gathered Saturday night in the LPL lecture rooms to watch the reaction of the scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., as they received signals from Opportunity after it landed on the Red Planet.
"I am glad it landed. I saw a big money sign behind its parachute," said Jeff Diday, a sociology junior.
"My heart is racing," said Amritanshu Palaria, an electrical and chemical engineering graduate student. "It is really encouraging that the landings involved UA students."
On Saturday, Opportunity, the twin of the Spirit rover that landed on Mars Jan. 3, began sending pictures of its descent by parachute. It will remain on its lander for approximately nine days to send pictures of its surroundings back to JPL. NASA scientists want to get a sense of the landscape before they send a signal for the rover to drive off into the soil.
Scientists hope the rover missions will unlock answers about Martian geology. By knowing the types of rocks on Mars, scientists may be able to further piece together the history of water on the planet.
The presence or former presence of water may lead to the discovery of life on Mars.
"These missions are exciting because we are going out there to find if there is water. If there is water, there is life," said Joshua Nelson, astronomy freshman and member of UA Students for Exploration and Development in Space.