Category: Digital Newsletter

The silica-glass DVD on Mars. In a 2006 press release titled Fly Your Name on NASA’s Phoenix Mission to Mars by Mat Kaplan, The Planetary Society unveiled the “Visions of Mars” DVD, a ‘message in a bottle’ to future Martian explorers. The “Visions of Mars” DVD is a silica-glass disk created and edited by Jon Lomberg, an … Continue reading DAY 16: Visions of Mars

The Robinson Family Aerospace Mission is celebrating the Phoenix Mars Lander’s 10th Anniversary on Mars. Continue reading DAY 15: Reflection

  “Both MarCO-A and B say ‘Polo!’” As the Robinson Family Aerospace Mission celebrates the 10th Anniversary of the Phoenix Mars Lander, we are also tracking InSight, the sister mission to Phoenix. On May 5, 2018, InSight launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California carrying twin MarCO CubeSats. Though the MarCo CubeSats launched with … Continue reading DAY 14: Tracking MarCO

Rising from the Ashes. What is a Phoenix? A Phoenix is described as a legendary bird that lived for five or six centuries before it burned itself to a pyre and rose again from the ashes; symbolizing a rebirth or a regeneration. Across many cultures, a Phoenix bird is symbolic of a renewal, hope, inspiration and … Continue reading DAY 13: PHOENIX: BEHIND THE NAME

  An Update. May 5, 2018, the InSight Mars Lander began its journey to Mars atop an Atlas V rocket. Launching from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California – the first interplanetary launch from the West Coast – InSight embarked on its 301 million mile mission to Mars. InSight’s primary objective is to give Mars … Continue reading DAY 12: Tracking InSight

  “We have water.” “We have water,” Lead Scientist Wiliiam Boynton of the University of Arizona announced in 2008. Boynton, who oversaw the Phoenix Mars Lander’s Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer went on to state that, “We’ve seen evidence for this water ice before in observations by the Mars Odyssey orbiter and in disappearing chunks observed … Continue reading DAY 11: Water Ice on Mars

  The Robotic Arm that uncovered water ice on Mars. The development of the Phoenix Mars Lander’s Robotic Arm (RA) was a collaborative effort between NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Alliance Spacesystems and Honeybee Robotics. Dr. Robert Bonitz of JPL oversaw the development of the RA’s control avionics, flight software, biobarrier and integration and testing. … Continue reading DAY 10: THE ROBOTIC ARM

Polar Caps. Carbon Dioxide Ice. The Green Valley. Some describe Mars as a sister planet to Earth. Like Earth, Mars has Northern and Southern polar regions consisting of water ice. Mars also has carbon dioxide ice within its polar caps, which makes it uniquely distinct from Earth. The changes within the Martian season prompts the … Continue reading DAY 9: The North Pole of Mars

An EDL System. An ice cream cone shaped aeroshell. The thin atmosphere of Mars. (Erik Bailey) The main purpose of EDL [Entry, Descent and Landing] is to take a spacecraft that is traveling at 12,500 miles an hour and bring it to a screeching halt in a soft way, in a very short amount of … Continue reading DAY 8: The Entry