Canada's online magazine: Politics, entertainment, technology, media, arts, books: backofthebook.ca

Politics, tech, media, culture and more, from a Canadian point-of-view

  • Politics
  • Media
  • Culture
  • Science and Tech
  • Living
  • Arts and Books
  • Features
  • The Video
You are here: Home / Science and Tech / The Phoenix has landed

The Phoenix has landed

05/26/2008 by backofthebook.ca Leave a Comment

The really interesting tech news at the moment is that the Phoenix lander has landed on Mars. They aimed the thing at the planet, it travelled through space, entered the Martian atmosphere, deployed a parachute to slow its descent, and landed where they wanted it to land. All that is in itself amazing, since so much has to happen without a hitch to be successful and not wind up like the original Mars Polar Lander which was lost for reasons unknown.

It’s always tantalizing to get pictures from Mars. That’s one of the first things Phoenix has done.

But its real work remains to be done over the next three months. What we have now is essentially a postcard from Mars saying “Arrived safely, about to begin work.”

One of the local features the Phoenix lander will search for is the water underneath the Martian soil. Descriptions of Phoenix’s purpose tend to be very scientific in tone — quest for knowledge, history of the red planet, the importance of knowledge for knowledge’s sake, that sort of thing. But more important, in my opinion, is knowing how available water will be when we get there. Not only is it necessary to sustain life, it is useful for its chemistry, and as a potential source of oxygen and hydrogen. Along with the other natural resources of the red planet, it can support long term colonization of Mars. With a breeding population of humans on Mars, we won’t have all of our eggs (and sperm) in one basket.

If Phoenix finds that life existed, it would also be useful to know what wiped it out. That could be key in any long term strategy to terraform Mars. There’s no point in setting up shop only to go the way of the original Martians.

Unmanned missions are better than nothing, but dropping a lander like Phoenix in the Martian north is a little like aliens dropping one in the middle of Nunavut. They’d learn a lot about Earth, but they would learn even more about Nunavut. Exploration of Mars won’t begin in earnest until there are people there asking and answering questions in real time, and utilizing the resources of the planet to explore and shape it for human settlement.

~ o ~

Which is better, drug sniffing dogs, or drug sniffing technology? Officials at Tokyo-Narita airport may be asking themselves this after their dogs failed to find five ounces of marijuana placed in a random piece of passenger luggage as a test.

To make matters worse, customs officials did not remember which bag they placed the pot in, and have asked that any passenger finding it kindly contact them. Said head of customs Manpei Tanaka, “This case was extremely regrettable. I would like to deeply apologize.” To which someone somewhere is no doubt replying “Hey, dude, don’t worry about it. But next time could you also stash some munchies to go with?”

Filed Under: Science and Tech Tagged With: astronomy, science, space exploration

Subscribe to BoB by e-mail or RSS

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Google+
  • Living
  • Politics
  • Media
  • Culture
  • Arts and Books
  • Features
  • The Video
Fire sale sign

Fort McMurray: Shopping time!

By Brady Tighe We’re now officially in the aftermath phase of the northern Alberta wildfire crisis. The fire is long gone, and everyone with a home to return to is back in its … [Read More...]

Nathan Cullen

Electoral reform: Hashtag fresh thinking

By Alison@Creekside The most interesting and innovative idea to come out of the first meeting of the all-party Special Committee on Electoral Reform, or ERRE, was Nathan Cullen's suggestion, … [Read More...]

Trudeau on quantum computing

The Trudeau gush fest is getting old

By Jim Henshaw There have been several bewildered as well as angry accounts coming out of the USA lately about how little media time has been spent covering the Democratic Presidential Primary … [Read More...]

Rick Meyers in Nanaimo Pride Parade

My friend, Rick, at the Pride Parade

By Frank Moher On this dreadful day, I don't want to write about the shootings in Orlando. I want to write about my friend, Rick. Rick lives just outside of Nanaimo, a city of about 80,000, … [Read More...]

Stephen Colbert on Late Night set

Triumph of the drama nerds

By Frank Moher Two drama nerds have recently moved into high profile positions. Before I name them (or perhaps you’ve already guessed who they are; or perhaps you’d like to scroll down and look at … [Read More...]

From “Our Rape Blog”: Shooting the Moon

Originally published on Our Rape Blog, the author's account of the aftermath of a violent sexual assault. By Mary Fraughton Have you ever played Hearts? It’s a card game. For our purposes, … [Read More...]

First Nations defending Lelu Island

The video: Lelu Island: “They will come.”

From Creekside: The B.C. provincial government is trying to green light the construction of a massive LNG terminal on Lelu Island in the Skeena Estuary -- Pacific Northwest LNG, backed by Malaysian … [Read More...]

Google

Follow Us!

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

RSS CBC News



Recent Posts

  • Fort McMurray: Shopping time!
  • From “Our Rape Blog”: Shooting the Moon
  • Electoral reform: Hashtag fresh thinking
  • The fish hotel
  • Hatred on an Alberta golf course
  • The video: Lelu Island: “They will come.”
  • My friend, Rick, at the Pride Parade
  • Our selective sympathy
  • The Water Bomber, The Frogman and The Great Canadian Novelist
  • Komagata Maru: The story behind the apology

Tags

9/11 Afghanistan Alberta bad behaviour books British Columbia business Canada Canadian military Canadian politics CBC celebrity computers Conservatives crime environment family film G20 Globe and Mail internet Jason Kenney journalism Justin Trudeau law Liberals Maclean's music National Post NDP newspapers oil sands online media Ontario Quebec RCMP religion sports Stephen Harper television theatre Toronto U.S. Vancouver women

Archives

The Video: Lelu Island: “They will come.”

Pages

  • About
  • Privacy

Copyright © 2023 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in