Should NASA Revisit the Moon First, or Send a Manned Mission Straight to Mars?

June 05, 2008

Before I get into my usual rambling screed, let’s pause to give a well-deserved shout-out to NASA, whose Phoenix Mars Lander just achieved the first successful soft landing on Mars since Viking 1 and 2 did it back in 1976. (If you’re wondering why that feat is so impressive, consider that it required the spacecraft, among other things, to slow from its initial reentry speed of 12,000 miles per hour to virtually a dead stop in a matter of seven minutes.) Here’s a video clip from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory that shows some of the initial images that Phoenix has transmitted:

Unlike the Spirit and Opportunity Rovers, which have been exploring the Martian surface since 2004, Phoenix is going to stay in one spot near the Martian north pole and use its robotic arm to dig into the surface. Using its onboard robotic laboratories, it will analyze soil and ice samples in search of organic material and other signs that life exists on the planet, or at least once existed there. (By the way, for the latest on Phoenix’s activities on Mars, check out Mars Daily , a news Web site devoted to the planet.)

The successful Phoenix landing got me thinking again about the prospects for eventual human colonization of Mars.