Se confirmará si existen los marcianos!

Esta fotografía es real.

Phoenix Lands on Mars
NASA's Phoenix spacecraft landed in the northern polar region of Mars today to begin three months of examining a site chosen for its likelihood of having frozen water within reach of the lander's robotic arm.

Radio signals received at 4:53:44 p.m. Pacific Time (7:53:44 p.m. Eastern Time) confirmed the Phoenix Mars Lander had survived its difficult final descent and touchdown 15 minutes earlier. The signals took that long to travel from Mars to Earth at the speed of light.

Image Credit: NASA, JPL=Caltech, University of Arizona

La misión es conducida por la Universidad de Arizona a nombre de la NASA.

La sonda "Phoenix", tras recorrer 679 millones de kilómetros, se posó este domingo en una zona del polo norte de Marte, donde iniciará ahora su misión de recoger muestras de hielo y determinar la existencia de material orgánico.

Con la llegada de Phoenix a Marte se destruirá -o confirmará!- uno de los más grandes mitos de la humanidad: los marcianos. Ahora tendremos que usar el lenuaje correcto: extraterrestres, para referirnos a lo que coloquialmente siempre hemos denominado marciano. Pues nunca faltará el niño listo "En marte no hay marcianos mamá, la NASA ya lo confirmó".
Ya me pasó con Plutón.

Que pasará con Marvin?

Hablando en serio: La misión Phoenix buscará señales de vida en el suelo de la zona ártica de Marte y para ello tiene una difícil tarea que depende del tiempo y de las condiciones atmosféricas.

Te recomiendo que veas el video que explica la misión es impresionante y emocionante...

Estamos solos en el Universo?


Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

This image, one of the first captured by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander, shows the vast plains of the northern polar region of Mars. The flat landscape is strewn with tiny pebbles and shows polygonal cracking, a pattern seen widely in Martian high latitudes and also observed in permafrost terrains on Earth. The polygonal cracking is believed to have resulted from seasonal freezing and thawing of surface ice. Phoenix touched down on the Red Planet at 4:53 p.m. Pacific Time (7:53 Eastern Time), May 25, 2008, in an arctic region called Vastitas Borealis, at 68 degrees north latitude, 234 degrees east longitude. This image was taken shortly after landing by the spacecraft's Surface Stereo Imager. The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

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