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Phoenix Mars Lander
Launch: August 3, 2007
Arrival: May 25, 2008
These are some of the Phoenix images
that I've created over the last five years.
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Landing Day on
Mars, May 25, 2008
If successful, Phoenix will be the first mission to land in
the polar regions of Mars. The landing site, relatively close
to the North Pole of Mars, will be unlike anything we've seen
before.
Phoenix will use thruster rockets
to land, instead of air bags like the 2 Mars Exploration Rovers.
The Phoenix Mars Lander was the first
Mars Scout to be selected. My early artwork was the cover art
on the winning proposal back in 2003 so I was an instant hit
with the team, led by Dr. Peter Smith, at University of Arizona
in Tucson. |
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You could say that the Phoenix mission
is actually a reincarnation of the cancelled 2001
Mars Surveyor lander and the failed
Mars
Polar Lander. The lander body is from
the 2001 Lander, literally, and it's been combined with the lost
science instruments of the Mars Polar Lander. The nane comes
from the mythical Phoenix bird, a creature that could be reborn. |
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Right: Phoenix Fully Deployed on
Mars
Also available in stereo 3D here. |
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Great improvements have been made in
the years since the original science instruments crashed on Mars,
and these new versions are going to be incredible. The arm is
brand-new, too. This new Phoenix is a state-of-the-art spacecraft.
The team deserves special credit for having
to work within a very tight budget. Yet they've managed to push
the envelope of miniaturization and reliability. |
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Left: Phoenix Digging For Ice |
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The Phoenix Mars Lander Science Operations
Center is at the University of Arizona, in Tucson. I enjoyed
a short visit there in February, 2007. Arizona is so hot and
the poles of Mars are so cold that it's an interesting contrast! |
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Speaking of cold, when the Martian
winter finally descends on the landing site the waning sunlight
will end the Phoenix mission. It's solar panels will not provide
enough energy to allow it to survive.
Right: Phoenix Mission Twilight |
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The Heritage of
the 2007 Phoenix Mars Lander
and why the name is so appropriate |
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The failed 1998 Mars Polar
Lander |
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The cancelled 2001 Mars Surveyor
Lander |
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The two spacecraft that were
combined into the Phoenix in a side-by-side comparison. |
The official Phoenix project
website at the University of Arizona
This is the site to watch for all
the latest.
The Phoenix Team is in
Tucson
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Peter's Laboratory
Dr. Peter Smith, is the Phoenix PI,
or Principal Investigator. He leads the Phoenix program, which
is managed by the University of Arizona for NASA. JPL is working
very closely with his team which is located in Tucson, Arizona
at the Phoenix Mars Lander Science Operations Center, where I
took this picture in February, 2007, on my way home from Lockheed
Martin in Denver (see below). Peter Smith is very tall and also
very friendly. So it was especially fun seeing him that day just
before he was interviewed by the Discovery Channel. It brought
to mind all the fun associations of what it means to be a scientist,
you get to wear a white lab coat and do things like organize
a big-budget expedition to the North Pole of Mars (!) where your
own robot will reach out and touch the first water on another
world. No wonder he's so happy in this picture!
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That's me, enjoying a quick tour of
the Phoenix SOC (Science Operations Center) in Tucson, Arizona,
February, 2007. I was wearing my new Phoenix logo, specially
for the visit. Everyone knew who I was - "the Phoenix artist"
- and I got to see my artwork being used there, not just as wall
posters but also on an amazing Phoenix Countdown Clock near the
visitors entrance. It was thrilling to see my images being used
like that. |
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Visiting Phoenix in Denver
My pictures of the Phoenix Mars Lander in the clean
room
Lockheed Martin Astronautics, near
Denver, Colorado, February, 2007
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I was very fortunate to be invited to
go and see the Phoenix Mars Lander up close - it was a
beautiful & complex sight. Human ingenuity
stretched to the limits. Well worth the price I paid for my own
trip to put on a clean room "bunny suit" and walk right
on up to Phoenix. It was unbelievably cool. I needed to see Phoenix
in person so I could create the best possible artwork, at least
that was the excuse I used! |
Phoenix Mars Lander with
Solar Arrays Open
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In this photograph, spacecraft specialists
are viewing the lander after the fan-like circular solar arrays
to be used on the surface of Mars have been spread open for testing. |
First stop on the way to
Mars - Kennedy Space Center, Florida
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On May 7, 2007, a U.S. Air Force C-17
cargo aircraft carried Phoenix Mars Lander from Colorado to the
Kennedy Space Center in Florida. |
My Artwork on the Phoenix
Launch Tower - Aug. 4, 2007
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My Artwork on the
Phoenix Launch Tower
This was something new - my artwork
appeared in all the Phoenix launch pics, not on the rocket, but
on the launch tower. It's circled in red. Click to see larger
version. |
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My Phoenix Launch Trip Pics, August, 2007 |
Click to see larger versions of my
Phoenix launch trip pics, Aug. 2007
Meanwhile, back at JPL
. . .
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My Phoenix art on a banner at JPL celebrating
the successful in August, 2007. |
New Phoenix Mars Lander
stereo 3D
May, 2008: New
Phoenix 3D for JPL Open House
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Phoenix Mars Lander in the
news: |
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"Phoenix
Mars Lander Prepared to Weather Dust Storms",
July, 2007, Space.com |
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"Detailed
Look at the Next Mars Lander ",
Dec. 2006, Space.com |
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"Piecing
Together Life's Potential", Interview
with Carol Stoker, Nov. 2006, Astrobiology Magazine |
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"Digging
Deep" An Interview With Chris Mckay,
Aug. 2006, Astrobiology Magazine |
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"Piecing
Phoenix Together", April, 2006 |
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"Phoenix
Mars Lander: Getting Down and Dirty On the Red Planet", April, 2006, Space.com |
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Phoenix Weather Instruments
Provided By Canada
Canadian Weather Instruments on Mars
Phoenix won a competiton
to be the first Mars Scout
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Click on my artist
concepts to learn more. |
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In 2003, NASA Headquarters decided
to send the Phoenix Mars Lander only after careful consideration
of many possible missions for the 2007 launch opportunity. It
was a "competed mission", pitting rival NASA rival
centers and university teams against other. I was surprised and
pleased when Phoenix won - my artwork was featured in the press
release. That's one of the images I'm most proud of from my entire
decade at JPL The "winning cover" image of Phoenix
is seen above with the other competitors.
NASA decided to "follow the
water" that the 2001 Mars Odyssey had just discovered back
then. So a lander that could dig up ice and analyze it was a
great choice. That's exactly what Mars Scout missions are for
- to follow-up on new discoveries. |
August, 2003
June, 2001
NASA
OK's 10 Mars Scout Concepts
Phoenix Lithograph
Official
NASA Phoenix Lithograph
Mars Ice Is A Hot Research
Topic
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Ice on a nearby planet is very interesting
because where's there ice there's water. And where there's water
there may be life! |
Phoenix Merchandise - JPL
Phoenix
Merchandise - Arizona
My Phoenix postage stamps
Click on the stamps to learn more.
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