{"page":"\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/resources-c03aa079.css\" /\u003e\n\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/lp_boclips_stylesheets-517835be.css\" media=\"all\" /\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-title='NASA presser on launch of Rover to explore Mars' data-url='/boclips/videos/5c54bb72d8eafeecae1251b4' data-video-url='/boclips/videos/5c54bb72d8eafeecae1251b4' id='bo_player_modal'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='boclips-resource-page modal-dialog panel-container'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='react-notifications-root'\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-header'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-type'\u003e\n\u003ci aria-hidden='true' class='fai fa-regular fa-circle-play'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\nVideo\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch1 class='rp-title' id='video-title'\u003e\nNASA presser on launch of Rover to explore Mars\n\u003c/h1\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-actions'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='mr-1'\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"btn btn-success\" data-posthog-event=\"Signup: LP Signup Activity\" data-posthog-location=\"body_link_boclips\" data-remote=\"true\" href=\"/subscription/new\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGet Free Access\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e for 10 Days\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e!\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-body'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-info'\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-label='Hide resource details' class='rp-hide-info' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u0026times;\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Expand resource details' class='rp-expand-info fai fa-solid fa-up-right-and-down-left-from-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Compress resource details' class='rp-compress-info fai fa-solid fa-down-left-and-up-right-to-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-rating'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='resource-pool'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-label'\u003ePublisher:\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-name'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='text'\u003e\u003ca data-publisher-id=\"30356011\" href=\"/search?publisher_ids%5B%5D=30356011\"\u003eCurated Video\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-description'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='short-description'\u003e1. Wide of Phoenix Mars Lander on launch pad UPSOUND: (English) George Diller, NASA Commentator: (part overlaid with shots 3 and 4)\"T minus 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, main engine start, 2, 1, 0, and lift off of the Delta 2 rocket with...\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='full-description hide'\u003e1. Wide of Phoenix Mars Lander on launch pad UPSOUND: (English) George Diller, NASA Commentator: (part overlaid with shots 3 and 4)\u003cbr/\u003e\"T minus 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, main engine start, 2, 1, 0, and lift off of the Delta 2 rocket with Phoenix, a distant science outpost seeking clues of the evolution at the polar region of Mars.\" \u003cbr/\u003e2. Close-up of bottom of rocket lifting  \u003cbr/\u003e3  Rocket launching showing bright clouds of smoke\u003cbr/\u003e4. Various of rocket launching into sky \u003cbr/\u003e5. Wide of news conference\u003cbr/\u003e6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Doug McCuistion, Director of Mars Exploration Programme, NASA Headquarters:\u003cbr/\u003e\"Well there's a lot of smiles around the centre and around the country today pretty exciting morning. Phoenix has left Canaveral Airforce station next stop is Mars. \u003cbr/\u003e7. Wide of news conference\u003cbr/\u003e8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Doug McCuistion, Director of Mars Exploration Programme, NASA Headquarters:\u003cbr/\u003e\"It's a great day for America's space programme to continue the exploration of Mars with this launch, just fantastic.\" \u003cbr/\u003e9. SOUNDBITE: (English) Peter Smith, Phoenix Principal Investigator, University of Arizona:\u003cbr/\u003e\"Its going to be 10 months before I am able to report science data from the surface of Mars, so at that time we'll be gathering the data at our science operations centre at the University of Arizona in Tucson and we will be discovering the truth of the icy polar regions of Mars.\" \u003cbr/\u003e10. Wide of news conference\u003cbr/\u003eA robotic dirt and ice digger rocketed toward Mars on Saturday, beginning a 422 (m) million-mile journey that NASA hopes will culminate next spring in the first ever landing within the red planet's Arctic Circle.\u003cbr/\u003eThe Phoenix Mars Lander blasted off before dawn, precisely on time, hurtling through the clear moonlit sky aboard an unmanned Delta rocket. \u003cbr/\u003eDoug McCuistion, Director of Mars Exploration Programme at NASA Headquarters said there were \"a lot of smiles around the centre.\"\u003cbr/\u003e\"Phoenix has left Canaveral Airforce station next stop is Mars,\" he said.\u003cbr/\u003eThe rocket was easily visible for five minutes, a bright orange speck in a spray of stars.\u003cbr/\u003eIf all goes as planned - a big 'if' considering only five of the world's 15 attempts to land on Mars have succeeded - the spacecraft will set down on the Martian Arctic plains on May 25, 2008.\u003cbr/\u003eIt will then spend three months scooping up soil and ice, and analysing the samples in minuscule ovens and mixing bowls.\u003cbr/\u003eThe Phoenix Mars Lander won't be looking for evidence of life on Mars but rather traces of organic compounds in the baked and moistened samples, which would be a possible indicator of conditions favourable for life, either now or once upon a time.\u003cbr/\u003eIf organic compounds are present on Mars, they're more likely to have been preserved in ice. \u003cbr/\u003eThat's why NASA is aiming for the planet's high northern latitudes, where ice is almost certainly lurking just beneath the surface.\u003cbr/\u003eOnly about six inches of soft red soil should cover the ice, and so the digger should not have to probe too deeply. \u003cbr/\u003eThe ice is expected to be as hard as concrete, and a drill on the scoop will help gather enough frozen samples. Some dirt and ice samples will be baked and their vapours analysed. \u003cbr/\u003ePeter Smith, Phoenix Principal Investigator from the University of Arizona said it was likely going to be \"10 months before I am able to report science data from the surface of Mars.\"\u003cbr/\u003eMars landings are especially risky. Only five of the 15 US, Russian and European attempts have worked, all of them American successes beginning with the 1976 Viking touchdowns. \u003cbr/\u003eGiven those odds, the Phoenix team said it did everything possible to test for failures and will continue to do so as the spacecraft flies to Mars. \u003cbr/\u003eThe entire mission costs 420 (m) million US dollars.\u003cbr/\u003eNASA has never attempted to land a spacecraft on Mars at such a high northern latitude. A lander intended for the red planet's South Pole went silent immediately upon arrival in 1999. \u003cbr/\u003eThat failure, combined with the loss of the companion Mars orbiter, prompted NASA to cancel a 2001 lander mission. \u003cbr/\u003eThe parts from that scrapped mission were used for Phoenix, thus its name, which alludes to the mythological bird that rises from its own ashes.\u003cbr/\u003eMars' North Pole would have been too cold for Phoenix to operate, and so scientists opted for a little lower latitude  for touchdown. \u003cbr/\u003ePhoenix will be shooting for 68.35 degrees north latitude, comparable to Greenland or northern Alaska, and 233\u003cbr/\u003edegrees east longitude. \u003cbr/\u003eThe lander will parachute down, with pulse thrusters easing its final descent.\u003cbr/\u003eScientists chose the flattest, rock-free zone they could to ensure success.\u003cbr/\u003eThe target landing area is \"Kansas flat,\" according to the spacecraft team, with few if any big rocks 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