quote:
The Phoenix Mars Lander will set down Thursday in Washington, D.C.Not the real Lander, traveling 45,463 mph toward a May 25 landing on Mars, but instead a quarter-scale model of the spacecraft that is 29.5 million miles short of completing its 423-million-mile journey that began Aug. 4.
The $420 million University of Arizona-led Phoenix Mars Lander mission will seek evidence of water and the elements of life by analyzing soil and ice samples scooped from the planet's northern arctic region.
The Phoenix display will be at the Rayburn House Office Building foyer, which is southwest of the U.S. Capitol on a site bounded by Independence Avenue, South Capitol Street, First Street, and C Street, S.W. in Washington, D.C.
...The display model is interactive, with a joy stick to manipulate the robotic arm that will - on the actual Lander - scoop samples of Martian soil and ice for analysis.
The Lander model will be set up for public view by about 9 a.m., said Johnny Cruz, director of media relations at UA.
A free public reception will be from noon to 1:30 p.m., he said.
For updates about the real Phoenix lander, see: