My name is Rob Bovill and I was born and raised in the great state
of Maine. At least, that's what I call it when I tell people where
I'm from. I love Maine. I love the green forests, and the blue
oceans. I love the humidity in the summer, and the cold in the
winter. I miss all these things living in Tucson, Arizona. But it
is a sacrifice I'm willing to make, because I have the coolest job ever.
I work for the Phoenix Mars Mission run by the Lunar and Planetary
Laboratory at the University of Arizona. I am a test engineer, which
means I work on the Engineering Model of the lander. Basically, each
instrument team (Robotic Arm, cameras, science instruments) builds
several versions. The Flight Model is the one that goes to Mars.
The Engineering Model is the one we do all the testing on to make
sure everything works in the way we need it to (or at least
understand how it works). The Phoenix Lander (we're stationary,
unlike the Mars Exploration Rovers) is set to land at about 68
degrees North latitude on Mars sometime in early June. No other
mission to the Red Planet has ever been that far north. We are
interested in studying the soil and water ice we think we know is
there. The hope is to find evidence of organics (carbon compounds)
that may indicate life once existed on Mars, and to test the water's
viability for future manned missions to Mars. But I'll get more into
all of this in later installments. If you would like more
information, check out our website http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu.

Right now, I'm sitting in my hotel room in Cocoa Beach, Florida. We
are all down here to watch the launch of the Lander on Saturday
morning, 5:30AM! I got in late on Wednesday night/Thursday morning.
Got up and had breakfast and then went to the beach, where I spent 3
hours swimming in the ocean and building sandcastles with friends and
colleagues from the Mission. My girlfriend had to spend all day on
Kennedy Space Center, photographing the Delta II launch vehicle.
Boy, what a tough job she has! After that, I spent the rest of the
day at KSC myself, walking around the gift shop getting my passes for
the launch event, and then watching the Bruce Willis Blues Band play
live. Tomorrow, I go back to KSC for up close tours of the Space
Shuttle, which is scheduled to launch a few days after we do, and to
attend the mission briefing for our launch. I guess my job isn't so
bad either. That evening is set for the final preparations for
launch, including roll back of the launch pad (done by KSC personnel)
and the mission BBQ. We will all get up at 2 am to go back out to
Kennedy to watch the launch of Phoenix early on Saturday morning.

I'm really excited that I have the opportunity to share my
experiences with everyone back home. As unique as I am being from
Maine and living and working in Arizona on a space mission, I know
my experiences are unique to many of you. I hope you enjoy hearing
about my adventures as much as I will enjoy sharing them.

Rob

E-mail this entry to a friend