R.I.P. Phoenix
Published on Nov 10, 2008 at 5:00 pm.
No Comments.
Filed under Mars.
The Phoenix Lander on Mars has not been heard from in a week. It was designed to last for 90 days, but lasted for over 5 months. However, weather conditions at its location on Mars have been rapidly getting harsher, and the sunlight has been getting less. Adding to the problems with the Sun being lower in the sky, there have been dust storm dimming what little light Phoenix has been getting. Now, it appears that the mission is over. The Phoenix team has now declared the lander’s work done. They’ll continue to listen for it, of course, but it doesn’t look likely that they’ll hear any think.While Phoenix is probably dead now, the mission is not really over. Sure, there won’t be any more data coming back from the lander, but the data that has already come back still needs to be more thoroughly studied. There’s enough data to keep scientists busy for a very long time.
I selected the image for this post to be one taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter taken back in May, during Phoenix’s second day on the Martian surface. It shows the lander with its solar panels extended. As winter closes in on Phoenix, it may wind up covered in frozen carbon dioxide. It will be interesting to see what shape it is in after the dry ice has gone next Martian spring. It is highly unlikely that Phoenix will return to life, unlike the mythical bird which shares its name. But, there are plans to try to contact it again, just in case.
This lander has done a lot of hard work, and it is a bit sad to think that it will be no more. We’ve sort of gotten used to the Mars Exploration Rovers, also designed for a 90 day life, going and going and going, without any quick end in sight. But, we all knew that Phoenix was not in a location where it could repeat that feat. It was purposefully sent to high latitudes to search for water ice, which it found. Unfortunately, it is also that high latitude that limited its life.
-Astroprof
Image courtesy NASA
