In about 7 hours, NASA will (hopefully) be launching the Phoenix mission to Mars. I was so excited about this mission that I was hoping to get up early to watch the launch. Unfortunately, the weather here isn’t cooperating. Many things about the Phoenix mission remind me of the Viking mission, which is at least partially why I’m so interested in it.
When I was very little, my parents started a subscription to National Geographic. One of my favorite issues was the one with a cover story on the Viking mission. I was captivated by the idea that perhaps there could be life on mars. The pictures the probe sent back were amazing. I think I must have read that issue a hundred times if only to stare at the pictures and wonder if life truly existed on another planet in our own solar system.
In many ways, the Phoenix lander is a modern reinvention of the Viking mission. Hopefully what we’ve learned from Viking and the spacecraft that followed will give Phoenix a better chance at successfully completing its mission. If we’re lucky, it will reveal more interesting facts about the history of Mars, perhaps even evidence of life.
Phoenix had a perfect launch at 5:36a EST. Congratulations to everyone on the project team!