Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

Phoenix Mars Polar Lander  (PHOENIX)

Outline
The Phoenix mission to Mars is part of NASA’s Mars Program and is the first of the fully competed (Scout program) missions. It was selected from among 19 step-1 and 4 step-2 proposals. Phoenix will launch in August, 2007, land on Mars in late May 2008, and conduct a mission in Mars’ north polar region through at least September, 2008, coinciding with the International Polar Year. Although Phoenix will be studying Mars’ arctic region, it provides a unique and valuable analog for Earth’s polar regions. The Phoenix mission has two main goals: (1) Study the history of water in all its phases with paleo-hydrological, geological, chemical, and meteorological methods, and (2) Search for habitable zones by characterizing the subsurface environment in the permafrost region, by measuring the concentration of organic molecules, by performing water chemistry on wet soils (water provided), and by microscopic examination of soil grains. The northern polar region of Mars has many similarities to the Antarctic dry valleys. It is known to have a substantial amount of water-ice within the top meter of the surface (e.g., Boynton et al., 2002) with a dry overburden of a fraction of a meter thick. In addition, the atmospheric water content on Mars is extremely small – only 100 pr microns at it’s annual peak. Furthermore, it is thought that the north polar regions undergo climatic changes over an obliquity cycle that could melt this ice reservoir (Jakosky et al., 2003), making this region one of the most likely places on Mars to sustain life should it ever have developed. Because of the interest in tracking life forms to the most extreme environments, the knowledge gained from examining atmospheric, chemical, and mineralogical processes in this pristine region of Mars will be highly complementary in understanding similar regions on the Earth. The 7 instruments or instrument suites aboard the Phoenix spacecraft include: 1) A descent imager (MARDI) to image the surface of Mars during descent, providing the link between orbital and surface imagery 2) A surface stereo imager (SSI) to survey the surroundings, image the trench and workspace, and monitor sample acquisition and delivery 3) A meteorology station including pressure and temperature sensors and an upward-looking lidar (MET), to provide basic atmospheric parameters and monitor dust and water-ice clouds/fog 4) A robotic arm (RA) to gather and deliver surface and subsurface samples 5) A robotic arm camera (RAC) to view samples in the scoop and the trench walls and bottom 6) A mineralogy experiment (TEGA), to ingest, heat, and volatilize samples and examine them in a mass spectrometer. This instrument also has an atmospheric inlet. And, 7) A microscopy, electrochemistry, and conductivity analyzer (MECA), to perform wet chemistry on samples, measure the thermal and electrical conductivity of the regolith, and examine fines with both optical and atomic-force microscopy. For more information on the Phoenix mission, visit: http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu Boynton, W, W. Feldman, I. Mitrofanov, et al., 2002. Distribution of hydrogen in the near surface of Mars: Evidence for subsurface ice deposits, Science, 297(5578): 81-85. Jakosky, B., K. Nealson, C. Bakermans, R. Ley, M. Mellon, 2003. Subfreezing activity of microorganisms and the potential habitability of Mars’ polar regions, Astrobio. 3(2): 343-350.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
Theme 1: Phoenix will be the first time that the polar regions on Mars will have been investigated in-situ. All measurements will provide the benchmark for future exploration. Theme 2: Phoenix results will enable better climate modelling, which will enable both future and past predictions of the Mars environment. Theme 3: The north pole of Mars is the primary source and sink of water on an annual basis. The water cycle, along with the dust and CO2 cycle, is one of the 3 main cycles observed on Mars today. Some current unanswered questions regarding the water cycle include whether or not it is closed system, whether the water reservoir transfers between poles on orbital timescales, and what happened to the vast amount of water that is inferred to have been present on Mars early in its history. Thus, understanding the water cycle in the polar region will enable a greater understanding of the entire planet. Theme 4: Phoenix will push the frontier of polar science from Earth-based to solar system-based. Theme 5: Phoenix directly enhances the polar observational capability within the solar system, while still complementing the knowledge gain in the Earth’s polar regions.

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
USA, spacecraft, management, many instruments: NASA-Langley Research Center, Johnson Space Center, Ames Research Center, Caltech/Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Lockheed Martin, > 10 Universities, many companies Canada, providers of MET: Canadian Space Agency, McDonald Detweiler Robotics, Optech, York University, U of Toronto, Dalhousie University , University of Alberta , Calagary, University of Ottawa, Geological Survey of Canada Denmark, provider of cal targets: U of Copenhagen Germany, provider of RAC: Max Planck Institute for Aeronomy Switzerland, provider of atomic-force microscope: University of Neuchatel

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
Phoenix will land in the Mars’ north latitudes between 65-72?. There are three regions under consideration at present all of which meet landing site criteria for safety and science. These are 120-140 E, 250-270 E, and 65-85 E. The landing region will be chosen in July, 2006 and the final site will be chosen in July, 2007. Phoenix will propose to conduct fieldwork in the Antarctic dry valleys, which is a Mars analog location. We would seek funding for this activity through NSF. This would allow us to retrieve samples for laboratory examination in our or similar instruments, enhancing our ability to interpret Mars results and furthering the inter-comparison between the Earth and Mars.

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: Launch: August, 2007      Landing: May 25 – June 9, 2008      Main mission complete mid-Sept 2008
Antarctic: January, 2008            

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
Phoenix requires data relay to Odyssey or Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and back to an Earth receiving station at one of the 3 Deep Space Network (DSN) facilities. These orbiters and the DSN are NASA facilities and are shared. Phoenix would need to coordinate with other teams and combine Mars polar research with current research on Earth polar sciences. The operation of the mission will be controlled from the University of Arizona’s dedicated Phoenix center. This facility could be used for future missions.

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
Once the Phoenix lander has completed its primary mission of 90 Mars-days, the lander usage could be extended provided the spacecraft is healthy. However, because the lander is solar powered, it is expected to stop functioning when the sun sets on the lander’s latitude. The Phoenix operations center at the University of Arizona could be used again for another deep space mission.

How is it envisaged that the required logistic support will be secured?
National agency
Commercial operator

NASA, CSA, JPL, Universities and companies will be managing the logistics. The mission is lead by the Principle investigator at the University of Arizona, with management and systems engineering provided by JPL, and the spacecraft provided by Lockheed Martin.

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
Yes - The Phoenix mission has full funding from NASA ($318M FY’03 US) The Canadian Space Agency has committed ~30M$ Cdn The Danish, German, and Swiss governments have assured funding for their respective instruments and contributing scientists. In addition, this expression of interest is in the process of being considered by the US National Committee for IPY.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND STRUCTURE

Is the project a short-term expansion (over the IPY 2007-2008 timeframe) of an existing plan, programme or initiative or is it a new autonomous proposal?
Yes

The Phoenix mission is the first of the Scout series of missions within the NASA Mars Program. Funding for Phoenix began in October 2003. The guiding document for US Mars missions is the MEPAG (Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group) document, which sets out the goals for Mars exploration. At the center of this document is the slogan “Follow the Water” with the underlying goals of assessing possible environments for life and finding resources that human explorers could use.

How will the project be organised and managed?
Since Phoenix is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program (MEP), it has well-established and well-understood management processes, procedures, and philosophies defined in the MEP plan. This particular mission, as part of the Scout program, is lead by the Principle Investigator, Peter Smith (U. of Arizona). Prof. Smith has designated Mr. Barry Goldstein, located at JPL, to provide the day-to-day mission implementation authority. Mr. Goldstein reports to the Mars Exploration Program Director at NASA Headquarters (HQ) and administratively to the JPL Director. The Mars Program Office contracts with the JPL Planetary Flight Projects Directorate for implementation of the project.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
Phoenix has a comprehensive nationwide education and public outreach program (E/PO), where 2% of the mission funds are being devoted to E/PO activities. The Phoenix E/PO program connects to outstanding educational resources in Arizona, the desert southwest region, and throughout the United States. The goal-driven program plan, which is designed to increase student and public understanding of water ice and habitability in the martian arctic, has been peer-reviewed an accepted by a panel of E/PO experts.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?
One of the Phoenix Co-investigators, Prof. Ray Arvidson (Washington U., St. Louis), leads the Phoenix Archive Working Group (PAWG). This group is responsible for the data archiving plan (preliminary version complete). All Phoenix data will be released to the public no more than 12 months after the completion of the Phoenix mission, per NASA policy, and will be archived in NASA’s Planetary Data System.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
The Phoenix mission is presently fully funded and underway. NASA funding is $318M FY’03 US CSA funding is ~$30M Cdn Danish, German, and Swiss governments have also provided funding for their investigators.

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
Although the Phoenix mission will study Mars, it is a polar mission to study many of the same processes as studied in Earth’s polar environments. Terrestrial polar regions are presently studied as Mars’ analogs and we propose that Mars might also be used as an Earth analog. Mars provides perhaps a simpler system in which to understand polar environmental and potential biological processes. Instead of centimeters of water accumulation/yr, as in the Antarctic dry valleys, there are only microns of possible precipitation. The Phoenix mission launch in 2007 and mission in 2008 coincide exactly with the IPY window, making it a natural IPY candidate.

PROPOSER DETAILS

Mr Peter Smith
University of Arizona
Phoenix Science Center
1415 N. 6th Avenue, Tucson, AZ
85705
USA

Tel: (520) 621-2725
Mobile: (520) 661-8040
Fax: (520) 626-1973
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation