CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A robotic dirt and ice digger rocketed toward Mars on Saturday, beginning a 422 million-mile journey that NASA hopes will culminate next spring in the first ever landing within the red planet's Arctic Circle.
The Phoenix Mars Lander blasted off before dawn, precisely on time, hurtling through the clear moonlit sky aboard an unmanned Delta rocket. The rocket was easily visible for five minutes, a bright orange speck in a spray of stars.
Michael Hecht, a lead scientist with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said he watched the launch from the mobbed beach with friends and colleagues. They shouted out the final 10 seconds of the countdown and hooted and hollered "Go, baby!" then toasted with champagne.
Inside launch control, however, engineers were wringing their hands as they awaited contact with the spacecraft. Launch director Chuck Dovale finally confirmed success, 1 1/2 hours into the flight.
Complete article
No comments:
Post a Comment