MARS PHOENIX MISSION LANDING TO BE SHOWN LIVE AT UNA PLANETARIUM
May 21, 2008
FLORENCE, Ala. — The University of North Alabama Planetarium and Observatory will host a Mars Night to celebrate the Mars Phoenix Mission landing May 25.
The event will begin at 5 p.m. with an interactive program for children, making a balloon-powered model Phoenix Lander. A multimedia presentation on the launch of the probe and its path to Mars will be shown at 6 p.m. At 6:53 p.m., a live NASA TV feed of the landing will be shown on the planetarium dome.
“The landing will be intense,” said Dr. Mel Blake, UNA planetarium director and assistant professor of astronomy, physics and earth science. “The spacecraft will be traveling at 18,000 mph when it first encounters Mars’ atmosphere and must slow to 5 mph to land safely seven minutes later.”
Once on the planet, the probe will search for water and study the rocks and atmosphere of Mars with an arsenal of sensitive instruments.
In addition to the multimedia presentation and live NASA TV feed, the evening will include lectures and materials about the mission, its scientific aims and how the mission will be carried out.
The event is supported in part by the University of Arizona’s Phoenix Mars Scout Mission and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
For more information, contact Blake at 256-765-4284 or rmblake@una.edu.
