Intense Testing Paved Phoenix Road to Mars

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Two participants help test the radar system for NASAs Phoenix Mars Lander. Image credit: NASAJPL-Calech
Two participants help test the radar system for NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Calech

When NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander descends to the surface of the Red Planet on May 25, few will be watching as closely as the men and women who have spent years planning, analyzing and conducting tests to prepare for the dramatic and nerve-wracking event known as EDL - Entry, Descent and Landing. For after all their hard work, they know that landing on Mars is not a walk in the park. Less than 50 percent of all previous lander missions have made it safely to the surface.


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All News summaries for May 12, 2008

Japanese sailor first to cross Pacific in wave-powered boat

Jul 05, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
Japanese sailor and environmentalist Kenichi Horie has completed a 110-day solo voyage across the Pacific Ocean in a boat propelled by wave power to claim another world first.

Major quake hits region of Okhotsk Sea

Jul 05, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
A major earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 hit the region of the Sea of Okhotsk early Saturday, the US Geological Survey said, but no casualties were reported.

Phoenix scientists soon will analyze Martian ice

Jul 04, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
Scientists with the US Phoenix lander will make their first analysis of Martian ice fragments in coming days but it could be the last done in one of the probe's small ovens, NASA said on its website Friday. ...

Only seven years left for global warming target: UN panel chief

Jul 04, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
The head of the UN's Nobel-winning panel of climate scientists on Friday said only seven years remained for stabilising emissions of global-warming gases at a level widely considered safe.

Australia needs carbon trading to fight climate change: study

Jul 04, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
A major climate change report for Australia's government on Friday recommended the rapid introduction of an emissions trading scheme to curb greenhouse gases and warned that delay could be disastrous.