Scientists expect terror from Mars Probe descent

Nasa's Phoenix lander, set to examine soils for evidence of water and living things, will provide scientists with "seven minutes of terror" during an iffy descent to Mars' surface, says the BBC.

"The Phoenix lander will begin its plunge through the Martian atmosphere on 25 May (GMT) as it attempts to land in the planet's polar north. The craft needs to perform a series of challenging manoeuvres along the way. "

It's a little-known fact that the Martian atmosphere is filled with nets, explosive gas balloons, and flak from robot-operated 88m cannons, left there by the Nazis.

Mars probe set for risky descent [BBC]

[#1 posted by echolocate chocolate , May 14, 2008 10:19 AM]

Not to mention the Al-Qaida cells out there just waiting for something to attack.

[#2 posted by David Carroll , May 14, 2008 11:01 AM]

Hey cut NASA some slack... IANARS but I understand that extraterrestrial polar landings are rather tricky. Try playing GTA with a minimum 26 minute delay.

Can you imagine devoting 5-10 years of your life, and 5-10 years of your future to a project, and it all comes down to 6 minutes? Now that's real terror for ya...

[#3 posted by Rob Beschizza , May 14, 2008 12:00 PM]

Yeah, no disrespect to the people behind this is meant at all. The more space exploration, the better.

[#4 posted by w000t , May 14, 2008 1:26 PM]

No Nazis on Mars–you're thinking of the moon:
http://www.boingboing.net/2008/05/06/return-of-the-moonna.html

[#5 posted by Scuba SM , May 14, 2008 2:33 PM]

Robot Nazis you say? Then simply send Doctor Jones with the lander.

[#6 posted by Dave Bullock (eecue) , May 14, 2008 9:02 PM]

This will be awesome. I'm going to be live blogging for Wired.com from mission control at JPL. I also shot photos of the Deep Space Network at Goldstone which will be a gallery running next week. =]

[#7 posted by Anonymous , May 15, 2008 2:27 PM]

I've heard the phrase "Seven Minutes of Terror" before. It refers to the fact that Mars' atmosphere is too thin for the sort of re-entry techniques that have been used for decades on Earth, but too thick for a simple rocket powered landing like you would do on the moon. Instead, engineers try to cook up something somewhere in between and hope it works, flawlessly, far enough away that you can't send any new instructions to your probe in time to do any good.

[#8 posted by terbyum , May 26, 2008 6:10 AM]

I watched Phoenix Mars video at http://sowonder.net/video/?d=Phoenix_Mars_video
Mars so mysterious...

[#9 posted by Anonymous , June 3, 2008 9:24 PM]

WARNING - do not click on that SOWONDER.NET link- it will try to give you a virus... This guy is all over the internet -- he must be stopped!!

[#10 posted by Wooooooow , July 3, 2008 4:48 PM]

WOoooow... People...
I just watched Phoenix Mars video on

http://xvids-top.com/Phoenix_Mars.html

Advise this Video Online... Interesting Video...