Category Archives: Mars

The Long Goodbye

Phoenix Mission’s Last Days

The Surface Stereo Imager on the Mars Phoenix Lander (Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Max Planck Institute)

I’ve been following the last days of the Phoenix lander near the Martian north polar cap. It’s continuing to communicate with its controllers each day, even as it runs out of power as Martian winter approaches. Any day could be its last day, particularly as the amount of sunlight Phoenix needs to recharge its batteries diminishes.  Controllers are making the best of the situation by monitoring the weather as it changes — exactly the sort of information about the planet’s climate that is useful to know in the long run. Lately the lander has been operating in temperatures as low as -89C; the high has been around -46 C.

For the time being Phoenix is going to sleep each night and waking each morning to catch a few rays to get the energy to phone home. As winter comes on in full force at the Mars north pole, the conditions will get too severe for the lander’s circuits and machinery. It won’t be long before Phoenix whispers its last goodbye.

Mars in 3D

Almost Like You’re There

“Somewhere on the other side of the solar system, a lonely traveler is making its way across an ancient, dry lakebed, taking pictures and making measurements, every day, to share with all of us back here on planet Earth.”

Jim Bell, PanCam team leader, Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity

Explore Mars in 3D
Explore Mars in 3D

That is the very cool opening of Chapter 1 in Jim Bell’s Mars 3-D: A Rover’s-Eye View of the Red Planet — a book about exploring Mars using two rovers named Spirit and Opportunity. Jim is the scientist leading the team that takes those incredible Mars rover images and makes them ready for the rest of us to see. I’ve been following their work almost daily, and each time I see a new picture, I marvel at how amazing our “webcams” on Mars are.

Now, imagine being able to look at Mars as if we were standing there, looking with our eyes. That’s the premise behind Jim’s book — it’s a collection of 3D images — dozens and dozens of them. And, the book comes complete with a red/blue 3D viewer built right into the front cover so you can study the images. It reminds me of those 3D viewers we used to use in geology classes back in college and in fact, it gives you that same sense of excitement about seeing a geological scene in 3D that I had when I’d study them in lab. The book’s design is such a clever concept; I was taken with it immediately and have already figured out that I want to send this to a couple of folks I know as holiday gifts!

The book is more than just 3D and 2D images. Each one is accompanied with good, aproachable explanations for what we’re seeing and why the images are important in understanding the larger issues of water on Mars, aeolian (wind-driven) processes, and Mars evolutionary history. I’m impressed and if you’re a Mars geology afficionado, you will be, too!