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Pat Duggins
Pat Duggins
Senior News Analyst
pduggins@wmfe.org


 

FINAL APPROACH TO MARS—Fasten your seat belts

 

 

May 21, 2008—NASA launch managers officially set May 31st for the liftoff of Space Shuttle Discovery, But, all eyes will be on the Planet Mars for a critical touchdown. The last time NASA tried it, it didn’t go so well.

 

The University of Central Florida will be among those on “pins and needles” this Sunday. That’s when NASA’s Mars Phoenix Lander will attempt to land on the red planet. UCF contributed to a magnetism experiment and camera calibration "eye chart" on the robotic science station. The last time NASA to make a soft landing on Mars, it was a high profile disaster. The Mars Polar Lander is believed to have crashed in a canyon in 1999 after a bad software signal told the spacecraft it had landed when it was apparently still high in the air. That led to an engine shut down, and a not-so-soft landing. NASA also lost the Mars Climate Orbiter that year when one set of mission controllers plotted the approach using feet and inches, and a second group used the metric system. After that, NASA went with a more tried and true system to land the two Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. That was a series of inflatable gas bags that surrounded each robot and bounced to a stop like a beach ball. Mars Phoenix will attempt to come down using parachutes, retro rockets, and a little luck.

 

On the book front, many thanks to all who’ve “clicked” their way to that YouTube clip of the interview I gave UCF TV’s “Expressions” program. Former Channel 6 health reporter Charna Davis-Wiese and I talked about “Final Countdown”. Here’s the link, in case you’d still like to have a look…

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv_lMXGFtFA

 

Also, many thanks to the Hubbs-Sea World Research Institute. The group invited me to include a signed copy of the book as part of a silent auction to support its marine life programs at Sea World and in Brevard County. Jose Hixson took “Final Countdown” home with him.  Of course, I'm not going to say what his winning bid was, but I was certainly flattered!

 

More to come--

 

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