This artist's concept depicts the Phoenix lander on the surface of Mars near the Northern Polar Ice Cap. Round photovoltaic solar panels extend from the sides of the spacecraft, generating electrical power. The robotic arm (left) reaches out to scoop up soil samples for analysis. The thin green laser beam of the probe's LIDAR instrument shoots skyward, measuring dust in the Martian atmosphere. Click on image for full size (68 Kb) Image courtesy of NASA/JPL/UA/Lockheed Martin.

The Phoenix Mars Lander is a space mission sent by NASA to the North Polar Region of Mars. This page describes the instruments aboard the spacecraft and the mission objectives for Phoenix. Click here to read an overview of the Phoenix mission on a different page.

Unlike other recent Mars landers, Phoenix is not a rover. The spacecraft will stay put on the Martian surface, using a robotic arm to scoop up and analyze soil and (hopefully!) ice in the immediate vicinity of the lander. In 2002 an earlier mission, the Mars Odyssey Orbiter, apparently detected large amounts of water ice just below the surface of the vast plains surrounding the Northern Polar Ice Cap of Mars. Phoenix is trying to find and analyze these ice deposits, in hopes of clarifying the history of water in the Martian arctic and of determining the likelihood that this layer could help support the possible existence of life. Liquid water does not currently exist on the surface of Mars, though water ice and water vapor can be found above ground. However, scientists are pretty sure that liquid water did exist on the surface in the distant past, and may have even been around as recently as 100,000 years ago. Variations in the orbit and axial tilt of the Red Planet periodically alter the climate of Mars; scientists wonder whether ancient Martian life (if any ever existed) in the form of hardy microbial spores might lie dormant in a subsurface ice layer, "waiting" for warmer times during which they might thrive. The Phoenix mission is designed to detect and chemically analyze subsurface ice, testing its suitability to sustain living things. This approach is part of NASA's "follow the water" campaign to search for life on Mars.

The Phoenix lander is named after the mythical bird that bursts into flames, but then is reborn from its own ashes. Phoenix uses some parts from the Mars Surveyor 2001 Lander spacecraft (cancelled in 2000, but carefully stored at Lockheed Martin) and from the unsuccessful 1999 Mars Polar Lander mission. The lander carries a robotic arm, equipped with a camera, that can reach out up to 2.35 meters (almost 8 feet) and dig down about half a meter (about 20 inches) to retrieve soil and ice samples. Phoenix has two suites of instruments to analyze the samples it digs up: the Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA) and the Microscopy, Electrochemistry, and Conductivity Analyzer (MECA). TEGA includes a high temperature furnace and a mass spectrometer that can measure the minerals, carbon dioxide, ice, and other materials in collected soil samples. MECA combines a wet chemistry lab, optical and atomic force microscopes, and a thermal and electrical conductivity probe. MECA can measure the biologic compatibility (such as whether the soil is to acidic or salty to support life, or is full of oxidants that destroy life) of Martian soil, both for possible Martian life and for possible future "visitors" from Earth. Phoenix also carries a Meteorological Station that will take daily weather readings of temperature and air pressure, and includes a LIDAR (Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging) to measure dust in the atmosphere. Finally, Phoenix also has stereo cameras mounted on the main body of the lander that complement the camera on the robotic arm.

This picture shows what an artist thinks Phoenix looks like on Mars. The flat, round, dark objects on each side of Phoenix are the spacecraft's solar panels. The solar panels make electricity for Phoenix. The robot arm is shown reaching out to the left to scoop up soil samples. A thin green laser beam shoots up into the sky. The LIDAR instrument uses the laser to measure dust in the Martian atmosphere. Click on image for full size (68 Kb) Image courtesy of NASA/JPL/UA/Lockheed Martin.

The Phoenix Mars Lander is a robot spacecraft that has been sent to Mars. Phoenix landed near the North Pole on Mars. This page tells about the mission of Phoenix. It also describes the instruments on the robot. Click here to read some basic info about Phoenix on another page.

Most recent Mars landers have been wheeled rovers that can move around. Phoenix is not. Phoenix will stay in one place now that is has landed. It is using its robotic arm to scoop up and test Martian soil. Scientists think there is ice in and under the soil where Phoenix landed. They hope Phoenix can find some ice and can test to see what chemicals are mixed in with the ice. Phoenix is using its instruments to "taste" and "smell" the samples its arm digs up.

Life on Earth needs water. If there is life on Mars... or if there ever was in the past... maybe it needed water too. Scientists hope Phoenix can help them learn about the history of water on Mars. Mars doesn't have any liquid water on its surface now, but it probably did in the past. The climate on Mars changes from time to time. Some scientists think it was warm enough for Mars to have liquid water about 100,000 years ago. That may seem like a long time ago to you, but it is just "the blink of an eye" in the history of a planet. Some microbes can survive as spores for a very long time without water. Maybe Phoenix will find microbe spores in icy soil on Mars!

Why is this spacecraft called Phoenix? In ancient Phoenician mythology, the phoenix was a bird that would burst into flames but then be reborn from its own ashes. The Phoenix Mars Lander uses parts and instruments that were made for two earlier Mars spacecraft.

Phoenix has a robotic arm that can reach out 2.35 meters (almost 8 feet) and dig down about half a meter (20 inches) to scoop up soil and ice samples. The arm has a camera on it. Phoenix contains two miniature laboratories that are testing the samples the arm scoops up. One lab, called TEGA, is checking for minerals, carbon dioxide, ice, and other materials in the soil samples. The other lab, called MECA, is testing the soil to see whether life could survive in it. MECA is checking whether the soil is too acidic or too salty for life. MECA also has microscopes in its mini-lab. Phoenix also carries a weather station that is checking the temperature and air pressure each day. The weather station has a laser sensor (called a LIDAR) to measure dust in the Martian atmosphere. Finally, Phoenix has twin cameras mounted on the main body of the lander that are taking pictures of the land around the robot.

This picture shows what an artist thinks Phoenix looks like on Mars. The flat, round, dark objects on each side of Phoenix are the spacecraft's solar panels. The solar panels make electricity for Phoenix. The robot arm is shown reaching out to the left to scoop up soil samples. A thin green laser beam shoots up into the sky. The LIDAR instrument uses the laser to measure dust in the Martian atmosphere. Click on image for full size (68 Kb) Image courtesy of NASA/JPL/UA/Lockheed Martin.

NASA has a new spaceship on Mars. The robot is called the Phoenix Mars Lander. Phoenix landed near the North Pole on Mars. This page tells about the mission of Phoenix. It also describes the instruments on the robot. Click here to read some basic info about Phoenix on another page.

Phoenix is not a rover that moves around. Phoenix will stay in one place now that it has landed. It has a robotic arm that it is using to scoop up soil. It is looking for ice in the Martian soil and checking for other chemicals. Phoenix is using its instruments to "taste" and "smell" the soil its arm digs up.

There might be life on Mars. If there isn't, maybe there was in life there in the past. Life on Earth needs water. Life on Mars would probably need water too. Phoenix is looking for ice... frozen water! If it finds ice, that might tells us whether there could be life. If the robot does find ice, it will use its instruments to help us learn more about the ice and water on Mars.

Phoenix has a robotic arm. The arm is digging into the ground and scooping up soil and maybe ice. It puts the stuff it scoops up into some mini-laboratories inside of Phoenix. The mini-labs test the samples for minerals, carbon dioxide, ice, and other materials. The labs also check to see if the soil is too salty or has too much acid in it for life. Phoenix also has a weather station on it. It checks the temperature and air pressure every day. The weather station also has a laser sensor to measure dust in the Martian atmosphere. Finally, Phoenix has three cameras. Two of the cameras are on the main body of the robot. The third camera is on the robot arm.