1. Modern Exploration Mars Phoenix Lander  “The Phoenix has risen!” - Peter Smith, August 4, 2007

2. Modern Exploration Phoenix  Objectives:  Study the history of water in the Martian arctic  Search for evidence of a habitable zone and assess the biological potential of the ice-soil boundary

3. Modern Exploration Phoenix  Launched August 4, 2007; landed on May 25, 2008 on the northern arctic plains  Operated for ~6 months; unlike the MER rovers, Phoenix had no chance of surviving more than 6-7 months  First Mars mission run by a university – University of Arizona

4. Modern Exploration Phoenix  Instruments:  Surface Stereo Imager (SSI); surface images  Thermal & Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA); organics detection  Microscopy, Electrochemistry, and Conductivity Analyzer (MECA); wet chemistry lab  Robotic Arm (RA); sampling & imaging; rasp tool  Robotic Arm Camera (RAC); imaging RA scoop before dumping samples, imaging below the lander deck  Meteorological Station (MET); daily weather, first LIDAR on Mars  Mars Descent Imager (MARDI); take images as Phoenix was descending

5. Modern Exploration Phoenix All images courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Texas A&M University

6. Modern Exploration Phoenix NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

7. Modern Exploration Phoenix NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

8. Modern Exploration Phoenix NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

9. Modern Exploration Phoenix NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Texas A&M University

10. Modern Exploration Phoenix NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Texas A&M University

11. Modern Exploration Phoenix NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Texas A&M University NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

12. Modern Exploration Phoenix Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

13. Modern Exploration Phoenix Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

14. Modern Exploration Phoenix Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

15. Modern Exploration Phoenix Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

16. Modern Exploration Phoenix  Notable results from Phoenix  Confirmation of Odyssey/GRS measurements of subsurface water-ice  Detection of falling snow  Perchlorate (toxic) found in the soils; caused the soil to be surprisingly sticky, very similar to soils in the Antarctic Dry Valleys

17. Modern Exploration Phoenix  How did Phoenix advance scientific understanding of Mars?  Science is on-going  What technological advance(s) did Phoenix carry?  LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging)

18. Future Exploration  What are the big questions that will guide future investigations of Mars?  Did life ever evolve on Mars? And, if so, does it still persist in the near- or deep-subsurface?  How does one reconcile the growing evidence that the ancient valley networks of Mars were formed by rainfall yet early Martian climate models fail to produce conditions suitable for water to exist as a liquid?  Did early Mars have a northern ocean?  Was the detection of methane in the Martian atmosphere real or the product of observational error? If real, what is the source of that methane?