The Phoenix Mars Lander program?

Question

Am I the only one that is not impressed with the rate of success of the Phoenix Mars Lander program? The people running it seem like idiots and are apparently totally inept. Ever since it landed they have been dragging their feet and seem unable to work it right. First they cant dig, then the oven door gets stuck, then they wonder..."Is that ice or salt they see in the dirt?" DUH ! -- Of course it's frick'n ice! Scoop some up for God's sake and dump it in the oven! I swear...the people operating the remote controls are lame. Give any kid that's good at video games a crack at the controls and it would already be done at this point. I don't mean to be so harsh but they seem totally inept at each stage of this mission. Where are all the smart and talented people at NASA and why not assign a few of them to THIS project? It has already been 68 days and they are just now saying that it is ice they found and they are now going to look for signs of past life...etc. I honestly think this whole project is not being run efficiently in my opinion. My question is "Do you agree with my assessment?"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20080801/sc_space/nasanowlookingforlifesbuildingblocksonmars

Answer 1

I TOTALLY AGREE. i think it was a complete waste of time and money. i read today that they found ICE on mars? i wanted to take a handful of ice and throw it at their face. we live in a horrible society when we can throw away billions on a red ball of nothing rather then helping a homless man who sits on the corner all day in the heat selling newspapers.

theres ACTUALLY LIFE HERE. and its saying "thanks for not careing AT ALL"

hah when i see the mad scientist whos eyes light up at the mention of this "voyages" success i shake my head. i am complete ashamed that i live in tucson and that the university wont shut up about this retardedness. i even saw a lame billboard

Answer 2

I totally disagree.  It was a cheap mission. Just getting the thing to land was amazing.

Maybe it was dumb to have ovens that are 1mm square.  But bigger ovens would cost more.  And Earth side simulations worked before launch.  And to a large extent - they don't care if it's hard.  They're used to hard work.  You don't get to do that stuff if you're not into hard work.  You have no idea.

OK, so they were pretty sure that they were going to find water ice.  But honestly, do you have any idea what they've actually done?  I don't.  I've only read half of Emily's blog.  And the real science papers won't be out for six months or a year.  And you won't hear about it, because you won't be tuned in.

I mean, name something exciting that MRO has discovered while in Mars orbit.  I can think of two things off the top of my head.  What did Voyager 2 discover during it's Neptune fly by? Venus Express?  Cassini?  And so on.

Get inspired.  Join the Planetary Society.  At least listen to their free half hour weekly radio program - available on the web, too.

Answer 3

No, I don't agree with your ASSessment. Let's see you put a probe on Mars, hotshot. Heck, I'll make it easy; let's see you put a brick on Mars.

Answer 4

I make it a point in life to try to never say anything negative about any NASA missions. The space program needs all the support (And money) that it can get and complaining usually just adds fuel to the fire. However...In this case, I am afraid that I have to agree with you for the most part. I have also been following each stage of this mission and I must say...I am not impressed. Needless to say, it is harder then you or I might think though. It seems to me that not enough planning or practicing took place on Earth before. Research and development as well as design may also be somewhat flawed. In their defense, I should say that it's hard to duplicate the temperature and conditions of Mars on Earth to do identical environment type testing before sending it to mars. In my opinion many of the problems they have encountered could have been anticipated By the project leaders though. The bottom line to this whole thing is that this just underscores the need for a manned mission. Many things just simply need a real human mind and not a robot to do properly on another planet. It is a shame that money is always the main thing that restricts our progress in science. I hope the rest of the mission goes better and better and that they eventually achieve all of their objectives. The mission has been extended so they have a better chance now. Good question by the way. You get a well deserved star. :-)



Here is the main NASA link for the project if you don't have it yet.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoeni...

Answer 5

They're being slow and careful because if you make a mistake on Wacko! Answers, no-one knows who you are. If they make a mistake, they're going to lose their reputation, ergo career, ergo home, ergo family, and so on along the line.

This is nearly as silly as moon hoax questions, in that you seem to think that you know better than the people who have spent a lifetime to understand the conditions on Mars from tens of millions of miles away. More silly in fact, because you sound like someone who understands science, and should therefore have more perspective.