Another space probe heads for Mars

Posted 1 year, 4 months ago at 9:18 pm. 0 comments

Mars remains a popular destination for space probes. The landers and probes currently on and around Mars will get company from the Phoenix Mars Lander. The lander is a joint effort between the Canadian Space Agency and NASA. The Phoenix Mars Lander was launched on Saturday (4 august) and is scheduled to arrive in 9 months. On board is a weather station that will monitor Mars’ atmosphere, and might help in finding out whether Mars could support life. The lander will spend between 3 and 6 months on the Martian surface collecting ice and soil samples.

The robotic Phoenix Mars Lander, a joint product of the Canadian Space Agency and NASA, began its nine-month journey to Mars Saturday to determine if the red planet can support life.

Strapped aboard an unmanned Delta rocket, the dirt and ice digger made a pre-dawn launch at Cape Canaveral, Fla. armed with a Canadian meteorological package.

Canadian researchers, engineers and scientists from across the country developed the weather station, which is designed to analyze the planet’s atmosphere to help determine if Mars can sustain life.

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