Furth and Fortune blog by Will Murray

Find the NASA channel or Science Channel in your local listings for live updates on the landing of the Phoenix Lander, on its way to touchdown on Mars right now!

More info:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/main/index.html
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/blogs/index.html
http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/index.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_(spacecraft)

Update #1: Confirmation was received at approximately 7:53pm Eastern (4:53pm Pacific) that the Phoenix touched down, apparently successfully, about 15 minutes prior. The delay in reporting is due to the length of time it takes for a signal traveling at the speed of light to reach Earth from Mars. Congratulations ASU, NASA, JPL, and everyone else involved. You folks make me truly proud! Well done.

Update #2: The lander’s parachute deployed approximately 8 seconds later than expected, resulting in the lander coming to rest 18-22km down range from where expected, but still close to the nominal landing site. In a press conference at 9:00pm PDT, this feat was compared with a golf game in which a person hits a golf ball from Washington D.C. and making a hole-in-one in Australia, when both the golfer and the hole are moving at different speeds. Quite an accomplishment.

While much of the media wanted quick assumptions and early predictions, it will actually take a few days before Phoenix will be sending back much “interesting” information. For the next few days, the investigation team will be monitoring the functions of the lander. They will be especially monitoring how the batteries perform, how quickly and completely the solar arrays recharge the batteries, and how much of the energy the heaters use at night to keep everything from freezing up. Once they figure out the energy requirements to keep everything running, they will be able to determine how much energy is available for running their experiments. So far, everything is looking quite good, and there might even be a slight surplus of energy. This could result in slightly more experiments being able to be completed than originally planned. After the original 90 Sols (Martian days), if the lander is still performing well, the mission may be extended an additional 60 Sols. That decision, however, mostly depends on weather and other conditions outside the control of the scientists.

So what can we expect over the next several days? More pictures for one. By tomorrow, we should receive more photos coming back, probably looking in the opposite direction from the photos above. They will probably attempt to save bandwidth and skip taking color photos, instead focusing on expanding the total viewing area to around 120°. Color photos are much larger, and there is only a limited transmission window each day in which they can send and receive information. The robotic arm and other systems are also being deployed, and once the scientists have assessed the status and located interesting surface features, they will being using the tools in the lander to start taking readings. That should lead to many interesting discoveries, though it may take months or even years before all the data can be fully processed and understood.

Will the Phoenix scientists find proof of past or current life on Mars? It is impossible to guess. The thing that is important to remember is that “life on Mars” does not mean “little green men” or anything even as advanced as a snail (though such evidence would be awesome). Evidence of life could simply mean that certain amino acids or other organic compounds could be found trapped in the ice. Anything ranging from the simple building blocks of life to full-blown fossils would all be fascinating and increase our knowledge of our Solar system and the Universe. It would also make a strong case for those of us who believe that life in some form probably is fairly common in the Universe—even if sentient (intelligent and self-aware) life is not. I can’t wait to see what else comes out of this.

Tags: Aerospace, Mars, Phoenix lander, science, space, space exploration, spacecraft, technology

• Just got back from the late showing of Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. I have to say that it was BETTER than the book! Great job. #

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My homework for this week was to answer this question: “Currently there is an ethical dilemma regarding terminally ill individuals and their right to die. Do you believe an individual has the right to die? Should medical professionals use extensive measures to prolong the life of a terminally ill patient? Does your opinion change if the patient is suffering from a chronic condition? Should there be a national right to die law?” Read my response after the jump, and feel free to respond.

Many years ago, I worked as a night auditor at an Embassy Suites hotel. About a year later, I switched to a Best Western overlooking the Pacific Ocean. While most of the nights at both properties were pretty routine, there were a few wild times there: fire alarms and even a real fire, drunken and domestic fights, medical emergencies, rowdy beach parties, and even a near miss by an airplane. Read all about it after the jump.

A summary of class responses and my own closing thoughts in response to this week’s question: “Does a woman have a responsibility and ethical obligation to avoid drug use during pregnancy? If she does use drugs during pregnancy, should there be punishment for endangering the baby? What are the rights of the mother and the baby?” Read what several students had to say, and leave feedback with your own thoughts in this eight-part series.

Discussion 6 of 6 starts with the focus on some Biblical thoughts concerning harm coming to babies and pregnant women. This is in response to this week’s question: “Does a woman have a responsibility and ethical obligation to avoid drug use during pregnancy? If she does use drugs during pregnancy, should there be punishment for endangering the baby? What are the rights of the mother and the baby?” Read what several students had to say, and leave feedback with your own thoughts in this eight-part series.

Discussion 5 of 6 starts with the premise that punishing mothers who use drugs does not work. This is in response to this week’s question: “Does a woman have a responsibility and ethical obligation to avoid drug use during pregnancy? If she does use drugs during pregnancy, should there be punishment for endangering the baby? What are the rights of the mother and the baby?” Read what several students had to say, and leave feedback with your own thoughts in this eight-part series.

Discussion 4 of 6 starts with the feeling that women should take care of themselves during pregnancy, but points out that sometimes women do not realize they are pregnant for a while; society should help women rise above their troubles rather than punishing them for being in a bad situation. This is in response to this week’s question: “Does a woman have a responsibility and ethical obligation to avoid drug use during pregnancy? If she does use drugs during pregnancy, should there be punishment for endangering the baby? What are the rights of the mother and the baby?” Read what several students had to say, and leave feedback with your own thoughts in this eight-part series.

Discussion 3 of 6 starts with the feeling that a woman should commit to a healthy pregnancy, but should not be punished for drug use during pregnancy. This is in response to this week’s question: “Does a woman have a responsibility and ethical obligation to avoid drug use during pregnancy? If she does use drugs during pregnancy, should there be punishment for endangering the baby? What are the rights of the mother and the baby?” Read what several students had to say, and leave feedback with your own thoughts in this eight-part series.

Discussion 2 of 6 starts by agreeing that a woman should be responsibility, but is uncertain about how a penalty would help. This is in response to this week’s question: “Does a woman have a responsibility and ethical obligation to avoid drug use during pregnancy? If she does use drugs during pregnancy, should there be punishment for endangering the baby? What are the rights of the mother and the baby?” Read what several students had to say, and leave feedback with your own thoughts in this eight-part series.

• @suttree : What is Pigeon-bloggin’? #
• @audaciousgloop – Supposedly ( http://tinyurl.com/3tf7j7 ) Twitter can auto-follow, but you have to contact Twitter devs to set it up. #
• @audaciousgloop – You’re welcome. I know it wasn’t much detail, but maybe it’ll help set you on the right course? How have you been? #
• @audaciousgloop – Just curious. Is cold-flu season in NZ still Nov-Mar (like N. Hemisphere) or reversed like astronomical seasons? #
• @audaciousgloop – Anyway, glad you are feeling better. #
• @audaciousgloop – So basically the flu bug goes south for the summer. Always thought it kind of died out, not migrated. Interesting. Thanks. #
• @suttree – Interesting pigeon use! Thanks for the info. #

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Discussion 1 of 6 starts by agreeing that a woman has a responsibility to stop using drugs and supports penalties against those that do not stop. This is in response to this week’s question: “Does a woman have a responsibility and ethical obligation to avoid drug use during pregnancy? If she does use drugs during pregnancy, should there be punishment for endangering the baby? What are the rights of the mother and the baby?” Read what several students had to say, and leave feedback with your own thoughts in this eight-part series.

“Does a woman have a responsibility and ethical obligation to avoid drug use during pregnancy? If she does use drugs during pregnancy, should there be punishment for endangering the baby? What are the rights of the mother and the baby?” That was the topic for this week’s question in my Contemporary Women’s Health class. Read what several students had to say, and leave feedback with your own thoughts in this eight-part series.