Immediately following the Phoenix Mars Lander's successful touchdown, Dr. James Garvin answered your questions in an online chat. Here's what he had to say!
Dashingdot: Do you think there'll ever be manned flights to Mars? Would you be on one if you could?
Dr. James Garvin: First, absolutely! There will undoubtedly be human missions to Mars. It's just a question of when. NASA's concept is to prepare for such voyages through an exploration program by humans that starts with the International Space Station and moves on to the moon. I feel the generation in grade school now must have the first chance at Mars. Now our voyages are vicarious - through the eyes and ears of our robotic spacecraft.
Green Cheese: Does there absolutely HAVE to be water for there to be life? Or is it possible there is some other substance that could enable other types of life forms we just don't know about yet?
Dr. James Garvin: As far as we understand life, which comes exclusively from our experience here on Earth, that sort of life - that sort of self replicating biochemistry - requires the molecule water at some point or phase in its development. But that view, I must say, is a view that is colored strongly by our terrestrial experience and may not be a complete view. Hence, in our Mars exploration program, we leave open the idea that the building blocks of life could be different.
Bob Loblaw: Now that Phoenix has landed, is the worry and anxiety over?
Dr. James Garvin: Absolutely not. Landing on Mars is an extraordinarily challenging event, but the landing is only the first step in the science voyage. There are many pitfalls that could arise from the successful activities needed to perform all of the exciting science experiments of the Phoenix mission. So we are not out of the woods yet, but at least we're in the forest.
Rick: As pioneers leading the way in space exploration, do you feel that your fellow scientists and yourself are an optimistic group of people? It seems to me that with all the hardship and strife in the world today, that to look beyond the horizon onto new worlds takes an extraordinary leap of faith in the ability of mankind in general to right the wrongs and earn our keep as part of a universal community.
Dr. James Garvin: I feel that science is actually often a pessimistic perspective because it must ask questions about the workings of nature and be prepared for answers or results that are not as expected, or as hoped for. So while the excitement of exploration and discovery is an optimistic endeavor, the doing of science requires some caution and thus, there are 2 sides to my answer to you. I believe space exploration and the scientists involved are optimistic about what they may find, optimistic about the exploration and discovery, but cautious about the understanding that will ultimately come.
Mark: Does the mission have any chance of lasting longer than the stated 3 months?
Dr. James Garvin: Unfortunately the answer is no. After 3 months, there is a possibility of another couple of months of very very restricted operations as a weather station. However, the full capabilities of Phoenix will not be possible after the Martian summer because of the annual change in climate at these latitudes. What this means is the following: by Martian fall, accumulation of carbon dioxide frost will hamper the Phoenix Lander from making electricity and achieving enough power to run its experiments and communicate with spacecraft flying above.
