Phoenix Landing - Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Press Kit/MAY 2008

Phoenix Landing

Mission to the Martian Polar North

Media Contacts

Dwayne Brown

NASA's Mars Program

202-358-1726

Headquarters

dwayne.c.brown@

Washington, D.C.

Guy Webster

Phoenix Mars Lander Mission

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, Calif.

818-354-5011 guy.webster@jpl.

Sara Hammond

Science Investigation

520-626-1974

Lori Stiles

520-626-4402

University of Arizona

shammond@lpl.arizona.edu

Tucson, Ariz.

lstiles@u.arizona.edu

Gary Napier

Spacecraft

Lockheed Martin Space Systems

Denver, Colo.

303-971-4012 gary.p.napier@

Isabelle Laplante

Meteorological Station

450-926-4370

Canadian Space Agency

isabelle.laplante@space.gc.ca

Saint-Hubert, Quebec

Contents

Media Services Information ...................................................................................................... 5 Quick Facts ............................................................................................................................... 6 Mars at a Glance ....................................................................................................................... 7 Science Investigations .............................................................................................................. 8 Mission Overview .................................................................................................................... 18 Spacecraft ............................................................................................................................... 27 Landing Site ............................................................................................................................ 32 Mars Science: Following the Water ......................................................................................... 34 NASA's Mars Scout Missions .................................................................................................. 39 Recent, Current and Upcoming Missions ............................................................................... 41 Historical Mars Missions ......................................................................................................... 45 Program/Project Management ................................................................................................ 47

Media Services Information

NASA Television Transmission

The NASA TV Media Channel is available on an MPEG-2 digital C-band signal accessed via satellite AMC-6, at 72 degrees west longitude, transponder 17C, 4040 MHz, vertical polarization. In Alaska and Hawaii, it's available on AMC-7 at 137 degrees west longitude, transponder 18C, at 4060 MHz, horizontal polarization. A Digital Video Broadcast-compliant Integrated Receiver Decoder is required for reception. For digital downlink information for NASA TV's Media Channel, access to NASA TV's Public Channel on the Web and a schedule of programming for Phoenix Mars lander activities, visit .

Media Credentialing

News media who wish to cover the landing in person at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory must be accredited through the JPL newsroom, 818-354-5011. Beginning about two days after the landing, depending on how quickly engineers can assess that the spacecraft is ready to conduct its surface mission, the center of operations will be at the University of Arizona's Science Operations Center, Tucson. For information about covering operations there in person, journalists may contact the University of Arizona Phoenix mission newsroom at 520-626-4408.

Briefings

News briefings will be held at JPL's von Karman Auditorium in the days before landing, on landing day, and two or three days after landing. After the lander's status is ready for proceeding with the science mission on the surface of Mars, possibly by the second or third day after landing, the mission's news briefings will originate from the University of Arizona's Science Operations Center, Tucson. The briefings from both locations will be carried live on NASA Television and online. Specific information about upcoming briefings, as they are scheduled, will be kept current on the Internet at .

Live Feed

Two channels on NASA Television will carry different live feeds during key May 25 landing activities from the control room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The following times are tentative and should be checked at MM_NTV_Breaking.html. The NASA TV Media Channel will carry a feed with no commentary or interviews, beginning at 3 p.m. PDT (6 p.m. EDT). The NASA TV Public Channel will carry a feed with some commentary and interviews, beginning at 3:30 p.m. PDT (6:30 p.m. EDT). Both feeds will continue through 5 p.m. or later PDT (8 p.m. or later EDT). For information about selecting between these two channels, see multimedia/nasatv/digital.html.

Internet Information

Information including an electronic copy of this press kit, press releases, fact sheets, status reports, briefing schedule and images, is available at . More detailed information on the mission is available at the Phoenix project Web site at .

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