NASA's
Mars-bound Phoenix lander completed its first and biggest course correction
planned during the spacecraft's journey.
The second
of the remaining five planned adjustments prior to landing is scheduled for
mid-October.
"These
first two together take out the bias intentionally put in at launch," said
Brian Portock, Phoenix navigation team chief at NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory.
Phoenix blasted
off Earth aboard a Delta 2 rocket on Aug. 4 and now careens through space
at 74,200 mph (33,180 meters per second)—a speed necessary to cover the 422
millions miles (679 million kilometers) between Earth and Mars by May 25, 2008.
Following a
difficult landing in the northern
icy reaches of the red planet, Phoenix will unfurl a digging robotic arm to
test the icy Martian soil for habitable conditions for microbial life.
So far,
mission managers said, all is well.
"All
the subsystems are functioning as expected with few deviations from predicted
performance," said Joe Guinn, Phoenix mission system manager at JPL.
Over the
next month, the $420 million spacecraft's support team will check its
scientific instruments, radar and the communication system needed during
and after the soil-sampler's landing. When it does land, Phoenix principal
investigator Peter Smith said it will be a milestone in space exploration.
"We'll
be discovering the truth about the icy regions on Mars," Smith said during
a briefing shortly after Phoenix's early morning launch.
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