Word: martian
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...NASA should be so lucky as to find a button-nosed snowman in the Martian arctic. A more serious hope is that the $557 million Phoenix will help determine whether organic life is possible on the planet by securing the first sample of Martian ice for testing. Although images of the landing site, a nearly featureless plain marked by polygon-shaped cracks, may not dazzle jaded space buffs, scientists are thrilled. "I know it looks like a parking lot," said principal investigator Peter Smith, "but there's ice under that surface. This is a scientist's dream...
...planet's polar regions. Life requires water, after all, and water - at least in the form of ice - is found in abundance at the poles. That's why the Mars Phoenix lander is en route to pay a call there, with a first ever touchdown in the Martian Arctic set for this Sunday...
...fitted with a movable scoop and what NASA calls "ripper tines," sharp teeth able to chew through a concrete-like permafrost a lot tougher than the powdery soil found at lower Martian latitudes. The scoop will be able to dig about 19 in. deep (.5 m), or about the depth at which NASA scientists believe the ice meets the soil. It will then transfer what it gouges out to the spacecraft itself, where the onboard science lab will examine it for organic materials, biochemical processes and other signs of life...
...with all its Mars landers, NASA is keeping the expectations for Phoenix's lifespan low. If the ship operates for just a few months before the punishing climate of the Martian poles kills it, the mission will still be considered a success. Like the other Mars landers before it, however, this one is designed with a much longer stay in mind. The Spirit and Opportunity rovers bounced down on Mars in 2004 with a similar lowball goal of just 90 days of operational life. Yet despite arthritic wheels and joints and the need for periodic power-conserving naps, both...
...proud of her...(sniffle). 8. A guillotine, for use in extreme Ad Board cases. 9. The little-known Harvard School of Colonial Management. 10. A letter from former University President James B. Conant ’14 that begins, “My Dear Sir Martian Overload President...” 11. Henry A. Kissinger ’50, just sitting quietly in a rocking chair. 12. Supply of tequila for upcoming “Presidential Thirsty Thursday.” 13. A portrait of former University President Derek C. Bok, aging. 14. Thousands upon thousands of women in science...