India Plans Space Shuttle Project
Reported by Raju Rao in Chennai
India is planning to launch a reusable spacecraft for the first time in 2010 according to a senior space official. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will begin work on a wholly indigenous effort to build a space shuttle that will carry Indians into the space like US space shuttle, Columbia.
The Press Trust of India news agency quoted Chairman of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Madhavan Nair (in photo left) as saying that the target for the first launch is before 2010
India has been successfully developing space program in recent years and regularly launching satellites using booster rockets. But with a little cooperation with either USA or Russia, India will be able to cut the huge costs and share technology to build its own shuttle. India has agreements with both and could get help from either or both countries.
Former ISRO Chairman, Dr K Kasturirangan (in photo below right)and now advisor says the first prototype is a few years away, "The instruments and the satellite are under the final tests in ISRO satellite centre. So this will take a month and a half for to go through these tests and make sure that all the systems are behaving normally under the conditions of the space. Subsequently, there will be flight readiness review and a mission readiness review.
Sources : Russian News and Information Agency (RIA Novosti), 13 Aug 2008 BANGALORE, and Times Now - TV News report, 31 Aug 2008
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Fast and Furious Projects - UN Rushes Aid to Caribbean Nations
Hit Hard by Severe Weather
The United Nations (UN) has announced that it is providing assistance to a number of countries in the Caribbean that have been badly affected by recent severe weather, particularly Haiti which has been the worst hit.
"We are faced with a combination, once again, of severe natural disasters in a number of places which is stretching our resources," Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes (pictured at right) told reporters in New York.
A series of tropical storms and hurricanes have been hitting, and are continuing to hit, parts of the Caribbean. The Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and the United States itself have all been badly affected, said Mr. Holmes, who is also UN Emergency Relief Coordinator.
Up to 600,000 people may need assistance in Haiti, which has been struck badly by three storms in three weeks – Faye, Gustav and Hanna, Mr. Holmes stated, adding that the damage caused by the storms has made it difficult to get around and assess the extent of the situation. "But it’s clear that the death toll is significant," he said, noting that could be between 100 and 200 people. Nine of the 10 districts in Haiti have been seriously affected.
UN agencies, including the World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), have been responding and strengthening their presence on the ground. In addition, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) deployed a UN disaster and coordination team (UNDAC) to the country on 3 September.
"This is very much the beginning of the operation and we’re still trying to establish how bad it is and build up our capacity," said Mr. Holmes, adding the UN will announce a flash appeal for Haiti, possibly as early as tomorrow. In addition, he was ready to assist with assistance from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). Mr. Holmes added that the UN is using its peacekeeping force in Haiti, known as MINUSTAH, in the aid efforts, including evacuation and distribution of relief items.
Cuba has also been badly affected, particularly by Hurricane Gustav, possibly the worst storm to hit the island nation in 50 years, according to the Red Cross. "We’re trying to establish the exact extent of the damage and a joint assessment will be undertaken by the Government and the United Nations today," stated Mr. Holmes.
"Cuban preparations have, as in the past, functioned well in the sense that they managed avoid any casualties, as far as we know. But obviously the damage is very significant," he added. Elsewhere, he said, the damage is significant but a bit less severe. Jamaica had a lot of flooding following Hurricane Gustav, and the UN has already allocated a cash grant of $30,000 and is in touch with the Government about further needs.
There has been some damage in the Dominican Republic, but the biggest concern there is the potential for landslides and flooding if another storm hits the already saturated areas."We are monitoring the situation there but the Government does not seem to need any special support." The same is true, he added, of the Cayman Islands and the Bahamas.
Source: UN Daily News Digest, 5 September 2008
Editor’s note: Another Hurricane Season is in full swing in the Caribbean, reminding us again of the need for project management in the emergency response and recovery fields. This is an application area that PMForum is interested in supporting and promoting. Anyone with stories or articles about emergency response projects and project management is encouraged to contact editor@pmforum.org.
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September 11 Memorial in New York Makes Progress
Reported by Larry Suda in New York City, New York
Construction to build the National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center -- intended as a solemn space where visitors can remember and honor the thousands of lives lost during the 2001 and 1993 terrorist attacks in the United States -- is well underway in New York City. Initial foundation work, which began in March 2006, was completed last winter, and the first phase of structural framework installation has begun.
Steel erection began in September 2008. According to Steven Plate, the Port Authority's director of priority capital programs, the reflecting pools in the memorial would be built up to street level in 2009, and the cobblestone-filled plaza surrounding the memorial pools will be "nearly complete" by 2011.
Designed by Michael Arad and Peter Walker, Reflecting Absence -- the memorial -- will consist of two voids representing the footprints of the original towers. Surrounded by a forest of oak trees, each void will feature rings of cascading water falling into illuminated reflecting pools. Adjacent to the two pools, a memorial museum will extend 100,000 square feet underground and will use artifacts and exhibits to tell the story of September 11, 2001, and February 26, 1993. Visitors also will be able to view a section of the massive slurry wall that held back the Hudson River during the attacks.
The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation, in cooperation with the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, selected Bovis Lend Lease LMB as construction manager for this project. Bovis Lend Lease will provide services in two phases: pre-construction activities and management of early action construction work, followed by main construction of the project.
Bovis' previous work includes the Time Warner Center and restoration projects at the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and Grand Central Terminal. Bovis and the Memorial Foundation will work together to ensure that minority- and women-owned subcontractors (MWBE) are awarded meaningful roles in the project. Bovis will be called upon by the Foundation to provide proof of M/WBE participation in all purchasing, subcontracting, and ancillary supplies and labor services.
The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation announced on April 9, 2008 that it reached its $350 million private fundraising goal. The "Survivors Stairway" was relocated from its original location to its permanent home in the underground Memorial site on July 19, 2008. Steel installation began on September 1, 2008. Concrete installation will begin in early 2009.
Location of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum can be seen in the artist’s rendering of the Freedom Tower and Memorial complex at left.
The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation, Inc. is a nonprofit corporation established to raise funds as well as build and operate the Memorial and Memorial Museum at the World Trade Center site. For more information, visit http://www.national911memorial.org site/PageServer?pagename=homepage2. For information about the Freedom Tower and other projects underway at the site of the Former World Trade Center in New York, please visit http://www.lowermanhattan.info/.
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World Bank Cancels Financing for Oil Pipeline Project in Chad
The World Bank announced in Washington, DC on Tuesday, 9 September, that it has cancelled its financing arrangement with the Government of Chad related to the Chad-Cameroon Pipeline Project.
According to the World Bank's announcement, the Bank provided financing to Chad to support development of the Chad-Cameroon pipeline in 2001, with a specific agreement that substantial oil revenues would be directed to poverty reduction. Over the years, Chad failed to comply with key requirements of the agreement. A new agreement was signed in 2006, but once again the government did not allocate adequate resources critical for poverty reduction in - education, health, infrastructure, rural development and governance. (photo courtesy of BBC)
The Bank concluded that it could not continue to support the project. During discussions held with the Government of Chad in N'Djamena the week of August 25, 2008, the Chadian Government agreed to prepay the World Bank for pipeline related financing. Chad has now fully prepaid both the IBRD and IDA components of the loan, as of September 5, 2008.
While the World Bank's involvement in the pipeline project has ended, the Bank has recognized the country's significant development problems which have been exacerbated by regional instability and the flight of refugees. The bank has indicated a willingness to assist the Government of Chad with overcoming poverty, assisting displaced people, and improving governance.
The World Bank is a source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world. It consists of two unique institutions owned by 185 member countries-the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA). The IBRD focuses on middle income and creditworthy poor countries, while IDA focuses on the poorest countries. Together they provide low-interest loans, interest-free credit and grants to developing countries. Established in 1944, IBRD is owned and operated for the benefit of its 185 member countries. Established in 1960, the IDA helps reduce poverty by providing interest-free credits and grants for programs that boost economic growth, reduce inequalities and improve living conditions. For more information, visit www.worldbank.org.
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UNESCO Announces Support for Underwater Museum in Alexandria, Egypt
Reported by Ahmed Saleh Mokhtar in Cairo
The United Nations cultural agency UNESCO has announced that it will help Egypt build an innovative underwater museum in the Bay of Alexandria on the site of archaeological remains thousands of years old.
The idea for a museum, located by Cleopatra's Palace and the mythical 3rd Century B.C. Alexandria Lighthouse, also known as Pharos, comes amid the growing recognition of the importance of underwater cultural heritage.
The first-of-its kind museum will be partly above water and partly submerged where visitors will be able to see archaeological artifacts on the seabed, according to a press release from the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
"This project will certainly enhance the appreciation of underwater cultural heritage and raise awareness of the urgent need to protect it from looting," said the Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura.
"Until UNESCO's Underwater Cultural Heritage Convention enters into force, there is no specific international law that can protect it against treasure hunters," Mr. Matsuura added.
The museum represents a major advance in underwater cultural heritage exhibitions and UNESCO has established an International Scientific Advisory Committee to help with the construction of the project, expected to begin later this year.
UNESCO have also produced a documentary film focusing on its Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage and the importance of saving submerged cultural property, increasingly vulnerable to pillaging with the development of more sophisticated and affordable diving equipment.
Source: UN Daily News Digest, 4 September 2008
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Lend Lease to Develop Darling Walk Regeneration Project in Sydney CBD
Lend Lease Corporation Limited ("Lend Lease") has announced that it has been awarded the A$560 million Darling Walk regeneration project by Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority in Sydney, Australia. Lend Lease Development has entered into an agreement with Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority to redevelop the 1.5 hectare site in Sydney's Central Business District (CBD) Darling Harbour precinct.
The 65,000 square metre development will comprise 58,000 square metres of low rise, campus style office space, a Youth Theatre, a rejuvenated retail precinct, a water play park and associated car parking. Demolition will start immediately, with construction commencing after final planning approval of the project application, which is anticipated in early 2009. Bovis Lend Lease will undertake the project management, design management and construction. Completion is planned for late 2011.(photo: Darling Harbour CBD today)
Australian Prime Property Fund (APPF) Commercial, one of Lend Lease Investment Management's wholesale property funds, will finance and acquire the project in joint venture with one of its existing offshore institutional investment partners. Lend Lease Investment Management will act as Investment Manager for both owners.
Underpinning the quality of the development, Commonwealth Bank of Australia has signed an agreement with APPF Commercial and its partner to lease the entire 58,000 square metre commercial tenancy for an average of 13 years. The building will provide high quality office accommodation for 4,500 staff. The development comprises two nine-storey buildings, separated to maximise views and enhance connectivity with the CBD and adjoining park.
According to the Lend Lease announcement, international best practice sustainability outcomes will be delivered through a commitment to a 6 Star Green Star design rating and 5 Star NABERS (National Australian Built Environment Rating System) Energy rating. Achievement of these targets will include: a high performance façade; chilled beam and fresh air systems; carbon emission reduction; waste water treatment and rainwater harvesting generating an 80% reduction in potable water usage; and onsite waste recycling during construction.
Mr. David Hutton (pictured at left), Director of Lend Lease Development said the Darling Walk project is a prime example of a State Government initiated private sector partnership, delivering on Government's vision of Darling Harbour as a world class waterfront, mixed use precinct complementing the city centre. The pre-commitment of the Commonwealth Bank emphasises the importance of this development.
"Building on Lend Lease's experience from developing Darling Park and Cockle Bay Wharf, we are excited about the opportunity to again work with Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority in transforming Darling Walk into a quality home for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and a successful, interactive destination for city workers, residents and visitors. The end result will reinvigorate this part of Darling Harbour by enhancing the link with the CBD, upgrading the public realm and dramatically improving the quality of experience for all users of the area. The building is being designed by Richard Francis-Jones, partner in architectural firm FJMT, and DTZ acted as leasing agents," Mr Hutton said.
Carmel Hourigan, CEO, APPF said, "Darling Walk will deliver world class environmental initiatives and innovative and sustainable design that is sympathetic to the surroundings. We see the delivery and ownership of highly sustainable commercial office buildings as integral in underpinning investment value both today and over the long term."
The public domain plays a central role in the Darling Walk upgrade, with key elements including an active water play area, a community green, a new and expanded children's playground and the creation of a Youth Theatre. The Youth Theatre will be operated by the Jacobsen family's Arena Management (operator of the Sydney Entertainment Centre and Capitol Theatre). The Theatre will focus on the development of local talent and family entertainment.
The development will also include a ground floor retail precinct to provide a quality offering of food and services to meet the needs of workers and visitors to the area. Underground car parking will also complement the development alongside the links to public transport. Darling Walk will lead the rejuvenation of Darling Harbour's southern precinct and further activate and improve this important part of Sydney’s CBD.
World Bank Funds Rapid Response Project
Related to Food Shortages in Somalia
The World Bank has approved a grant of US$7.0 million to support Somalia's urgent need to increase crop and livestock production in rural areas adversely affected by the drought and the current global food crisis. The emergency grant for the Somalia Rapid Response Rehabilitation of Rural Livelihoods Project will be funded under the Bank's recently launched Global Food Crisis Response Program.
"Somalia is one of the countries most affected by the global food price crisis and has a dire humanitarian situation affecting over 3.2 million Somalis," says James Christopher Lovelace, the Bank's Country Manager for Somalia.
The project addresses the immediacy of the situation by:
responding to the urgent need for financial assistance arising from the impact of the current food crisis in Somalia, and
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establishing inputs and infrastructure for the short run that will serve to improve food production.
Activities under the project will build on several ongoing projects in Somalia to assist in addressing the crisis with increased attention to crops and livestock productivity, particularly in mainstreaming nutrition and gender concerns in the interventions.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Emergency Operations unit for Somalia based in Nairobi will manage the grant. It will also implement and monitor the project through partnerships with international and local non-governmental organizations with a strong operational presence in project areas. Other partners, if necessary, will also be involved.
"We are responding collectively with the World Bank and other agencies to avert a crisis that continues to deteriorate at a rate and severity that we have not seen in over fifteen years," says Graham Farmer, Officer in Charge of FAO Somalia. "This important and crucial grant will enable Somali people to avoid stripping of productive assets and protect their livelihoods," adds Farmer.
In its 26 August, 2008 report, the FAO Food Security Analysis Unit (FSAU) warned of the devastating impact of sky rocketing food prices on the poor and vulnerable people of Somalia. The situation has been aggravated by the extreme devaluation of the Somali Shilling, deepening drought following an abnormally harsh dry season, delayed and poor start of the mid-April to June rains and prolonged civil conflict.
The grant, which was endorsed by the World Bank Board of Directors, will address the urgent need for financial support to finance gaps in existing programs being implemented by international, national and non-governmental institutions. Somalia remains a fragile state and a high risk country.
For more information about the World Bank and Somalia, please visit www.worldbank.org/somalia.
Source: Daily World Bank Alert, 10 September 2008
Coal River Mountain Wind Project & Dr. Robert Bullard win
Co-op America 2008 Building Economic Alternatives Award
Co-op American has announced that the Coal River Mountain Project and Dr. Robert Bullard are their 2008 recipients of the Building Economic Alternatives (BEA) award. This is the 19th year this award has been given to those who exemplify the socially responsible activities closest to the heart of Co-op America's goals of advancing social justice and environmental sustainability.
The Co-op America Award is given to an organization, individual, or business whose outstanding work deals with issues covered by the previous year's Co-op America Quarterly, a national magazine with over 75,000 subscribers. The Coal River Mountain Wind Project is receiving the organizational award in recognition of its work to protect Coal River Mountain in southern West Virginia, USA from destructive mining by building a wind farm in the location.
Dr. Robert Bullard is an individual recipient of the 2008 BEA award for his lifetime of work as the "father" of the environmental justice movement.
According to the Co-op America news release, the Coal River Wind Project is working to stop damage to mountain ecosystems and communities by promoting a solution to preserve Coal River Mountain. Massey Energy holds four strip-mine permits to destroy the face of the mountain and is awaiting permission to fill in creek beds with the resulting debris. The type of mining they would use, mountain-top removal mining (MTR), involves clear-cutting forest, exposing the tops of Appalachian mountains, using explosives to blow off layers of rock, mining for exposed coal, and dumping waste rock in adjacent valleys. Already, over 470 Appalachian mountains have been destroyed through this type of mining.
The Coal River Mountain Wind Project has presented an analysis from Wind Logistics showing that a wind farm would instead provide clean energy and permanent jobs for nearby communities, in addition to preserving the landscape and important ecological systems. Individuals and institutions can support building wind farms over mountain top removal mining by going to http://www.coalriverwind.org/.
"The proposed wind project will create jobs for the community while also preserving the environment," says Yochi Zakai, coordinator of Co-op America's corporate responsibility programs. "This campaign is a perfect match with Co-op America's mission of harnessing economic power for a better world."
Dr. Robert Bullard (pictured left) began documenting environmental injustice in the 1970s, when his sociological research on the situating of garbage dumps in Houston’s black neighborhoods revealed systematic patterns of injustice. The book he wrote about that work, Dumping in Dixie, is recognized as the first to fully articulate the idea of environmental justice. Since then, Bullard has been one of the leading voices of environmental justice advocacy.
He was one of the planners of the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit in 1991, and helped the Clinton administration write an executive order that required all federal agencies to consider environmental justice.
"I am deeply honored to receive this award on behalf of the millions of individuals and families who are struggling all the time to achieve a healthy environment where they live, work, play, worship, and attend school," said Dr. Bullard, who is the director of the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Georgia's Clark Atlanta University. "No community should become the dumping grounds for other people's garbage or toxic waste. No matter what socioeconomic status or color, all Americans have a right to equal protection of our environmental laws."
Co-op America is a leading US-based green economy organization. Founded in 1982, Co-op America provides economic strategies, and organizes power and practical tools for businesses and individuals to solve today's social and environmental problems. Co-op America’s green economy programs encourage corporate responsibility, tackle climate change, build fair trading systems, advance healthy, local communities, and provide green purchasing and investing information for families and businesses. For more information, visit www.coopamerica.org.
Space Shuttle Atlantis set for final Hubble Telescope
Repair Mission in October - Endeavor stands by for
possible Rescue Mission
For the first time since July 2001, two space shuttles are on launch pads at the same time at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Space shuttle Endeavour is now also at the launch pad. Endeavor completed a 4.2-mile journey to Launch Pad 39B on Friday, Sept. 19, at 6:59 a.m. EDT. Just a short distance away on pad 39A, technicians continue to prepare space shuttle Atlantis for its targeted October 10 launch on mission STS-125 to service the Hubble Space Telescope.
Endeavour will be on standby in the unlikely event that a rescue mission for the Atlantis's crew would be necessary. Endeavour will be designated STS-400 if it is needed for a rescue flight. Endeavour will remain on Launch Pad 39B while Atlantis is in space. Once the shuttle is cleared for its return to Earth, Endeavour will move to Pad 39A for its next flight.
Space shuttle Atlantis’ upcoming 11-day mission is the final shuttle flight to NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope (pictured at right). Five spacewalks are planned to install new instruments and thermal blankets, repair two existing instruments, refurbish subsystems and replace gyroscopes and batteries.
The result will be six working, complementary science instruments with capabilities beyond what is now available, and an extended operational lifespan through at least 2013. The seven-member crew will enhance the observatory and ensure cutting-edge science. It puts in place advanced technology that improves the discovery power of Hubble by 10 to 70 times.
(Photo: Atlantis on Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in foreground; Endeavor on Pad 39B in background, Saturday, 20 September 2008; photo courtesy of NASA)
STS-125 will be the 124th space shuttle flight, the fifth serving flight to the telescope, the 30th flight for Atlantis and the fourth flight in 2008. The weight of the payload is the heaviest ever carried aboard the shuttle on a Hubble servicing mission
After Endeavour (shown in photo at right on 19 September) is cleared from its duty as a rescue vehicle, workers will move it to pad 39A in preparation for liftoff on mission STS-126 to the International Space Station in November 2008.
Created in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is America’s focal point for research, development and exploration of outer space. In 2005, the US President and Congress committed the United States to exploring the solar system and beyond: completing assembly of the International Space Station, flying the new Crew Exploration Vehicle no later than 2014, returning astronauts to the moon by the end of the next decade, and sending human missions to Mars and beyond. For over 50 years, NASA has been leading the world in the development and usage of advanced program and project management. Additional information about NASA can be found at www.nasa.gov.
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UN computer networking project in Senegal
first to fight African Brain Drain
According to a UN news report, scientists at a Senegalese university are the first to benefit from a United Nations-backed project aimed at providing colleges in five African countries with the technology and tools needed to prevent the migration of graduates and reduce the continent's "brain drain." The installation of the first computing grid at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar is part of a joint initiative by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Hewlett-Packard and the Grid Computing Institute of France's National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS).
Grid computing is a hardware and software infrastructure that clusters and integrates high-end computer networks, databases and scientific instruments from multiple sources to form a virtual environment in which users can work collaboratively. Connected over the Internet, these sets of servers or computers make it possible to process and store data and to multiply computing power and speed.
The University’s grid node, set up by the Grid Computing Institute of the CNRS, is the first sub-Saharan African component of the grid infrastructure created in 2004 by the European Union.
“Launching this first link represents an important step in bridging the digital divide between North and South,” UNESCO said in a news release. “It will facilitate international scientific cooperation for sub-Saharan Africa as a whole and for Senegal in particular. Thanks to this link, scientists at the University now have access to considerable information technology resources,” the agency added.
The joint project, “Reversing Brain Drain into Brain Gain for Africa,” follows the successful implementation of a similar UNESCO/Hewlett-Packard initiative for Southeast Europe, launched in 2003. That effort helped create websites, databases and new research projects in several universities in the region. Four universities have become entirely self-sustainable in the use of grid technology and the project continues in three others.
Source: UN Daily News Digest, 17 September 2008
US Army Project to Inject $61 million in Novo Selo. Bulgaria
Reported by Earl Glenwright
As reported by The Sofia Echo news on 19 September, a $61.15 million joint military training facility is going to be built in Novo Selo, Bulgaria over the next two years. One US company, one Italian and 11 Bulgarian companies have been identified so far to take part in the biggest construction project organised by the US Dept of Defense in Bulgaria to date. This is according to an official statement from the US Embassy in Sofia as reported by BTA.
According to American Ambassador Nancy McEldowney (pictured), "This is a great moment for the US-Bulgaria partnership. This project will help co-operation, both bilaterally and as NATO allies. It will enhance joint training and make us more effective in handling the security challenges we face. This big financial injection into the Sliven area will provide economic opportunities for many Bulgarian companies and jobs for even more Bulgarians".
The Bulgarian construction companies that have been awarded a slice of contract have complied with US contracting regulations and construction specifications. The selection process was demanding and only the best-qualified companies were short-listed, according to the official statement.
The project will include 23 barracks for 2300 troops, plus administrative, operational, tactical, maintenance, storage, medical and dining facilities. Construction is scheduled to begin in November and be completed by the summer of 2011. People wanting to work on the project must go through the recruitment channels provided by the companies themselves, and not through the US embassy.
The Italian company allocated part of the project, Sede Secondaria Italiana, from Viccenza. The Italian firm is seeking to employ the services of local Bulgarian firms, in particular Dolomit, which is its main partner in the country. No other Bulgarian firms are confirmed, although it is understood that Moststroi and Holding Putishta have applied for the job.
Earl Glenwright lives in Bulgaria and the United States.He can be contacted at earl_csss@yahoo.com
Snowfall on Mars - NASA Announces Startling Discovery by Phoenix Mars Lander Project
According to news released on Monday, 29 September, NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has detected snow falling from Martian clouds. Spacecraft soil tests experiments also have provided evidence of past interaction between minerals and liquid water, processes that occur on Earth.
A laser instrument designed to gather knowledge of how the atmosphere and surface interact on Mars, detected snow from clouds about 2.5 miles above the spacecraft's landing site. Data show the snow vaporizing before reaching the ground.
"Nothing like this view has ever been seen on Mars," said Jim Whiteway, of York University, Toronto, lead scientist for the Canadian-supplied Meteorological Station on Phoenix. "We'll be looking for signs that the snow may even reach the ground."
Phoenix experiments also yielded clues pointing to calcium carbonate, the main composition of chalk, and particles that could be clay. Most carbonates and clays on Earth form only in the presence of liquid water.
"We are still collecting data and have lots of analysis ahead, but we are making good progress on the big questions we set out for ourselves," said Phoenix Principal Investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, Tucson.
Since landing on May 25, Phoenix already has confirmed that a hard subsurface layer at its far-northern site contains water-ice. Determining whether that ice ever thaws would help answer whether the environment there has been favorable for life, a key aim of the mission.
"We have found carbonate," said William Boynton of the University of Arizona, lead scientist for the TEGA. "This points toward episodes of interaction with water in the past."
The Phoenix mission, originally planned for three months on Mars, now is in its fifth month. However, it faces a decline in solar energy that is expected to curtail and then end the lander's activities before the end of the year. Before power ceases, the Phoenix team will attempt to activate a microphone on the lander to possibly capture sounds on Mars.
"For nearly three months after landing, the sun never went below the horizon at our landing site." said Barry Goldstein, JPL Phoenix project manager. "Now it is gone for more than four hours each night, and the output from our solar panels is dropping each week. Before the end of October, there won't be enough energy to keep using the robotic arm."
(Photo: Barry Goldstein and Peter Smith)
The Phoenix mission is led by Smith at the University of Arizona. Project management is the responsibility of JPL with development partnership by Lockheed Martin in Denver. International contributions come from the Canadian Space Agency; the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland; the universities of Copenhagen and Aarhus, Denmark; Max Planck Institute, Germany; and the Finnish Meteorological Institute. For more about Phoenix, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/phoenix
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