The Week in Space May 20-26, 2013  Phoenix Rises The Phoenix spacecraft made an unprecedented landing in the Martian polar region five years ago this week. Aptly named, Phoenix rose from the ashes of previously canceled or ill-fated missions. The lander itself was based on the Mars Surveyor 2001 spacecraft, which was canceled in 2000 but had been kept in clean storage since then. Other instruments on Phoenix were upgrades of equipment first built for the Mars Polar Lander, which presumably crashed on Mars in 1999. Phoenix landed at nearly 70° north latitude, in an area of Mars rich in subsurface water ice, which quickly sublimated (transformed to vapor) after being exposed by Phoenix’s robot arm. Seen here above Phoenix’s solar panel, its robotic arm delivers a soil sample to be analyzed by an onboard microscope. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona / Texas A&M University
Weekly CalendarMay 20-26, 2013Holidays - Sky Events - Space History  Monday 20
Victoria Day (Canada) Mercury 7° north of Aldebaran 1978: Pioneer-Venus 1 launched
1995: Spektr module launched to Mir space station
2010: IKAROS spacecraft launched; first successful solar-sail propulsion
 Tuesday 21
 Wednesday 22
Spica 0.005° south of Moon 1969: Apollo 10 lunar module descends to within 50,000 feet of the lunar surface
2012: Dragon C2+ spacecraft launched, first commercial mission to dock with ISS  Thursday 23
Saturn 4° north of Moon 1984: NASA selects 10th astronaut group  Friday 24
1962: Aurora 7 launched; Scott Carpenter is first American to eat food in space  Saturday 25
Full Moon 12:25 AM ET
Moon at perigee
Mercury 1.4° north of Venus 1961: JFK challenges nation to Moon landing before end of decade
1965: Saturn SA-8 launched
1966: Roll-out of first full-scale Saturn V
1973: Skylab 2 begins 28-day mission
2008: Phoenix lander lands on Mars  Sunday 26
Trinity Sunday |
