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Phoenix Mars Lander Declared Dead

Posted by kdawson on from the so-long-and-thanks-for-all-the-pix dept.

SpuriousLogic sends in a sad note from the BBC: "NASA says its Phoenix lander on the surface of Mars has gone silent and is almost certainly dead. Engineers have not heard from the craft since Sunday 2 November when it made a brief communication with Earth. Phoenix, which landed on the planet's northern plains in May, had been struggling in the increasing cold and dark of an advancing winter. The US space agency says it will continue to try to contact the craft but does not expect to hear from it."

3 of 154 comments (clear)

  1. IBM's Power Architecture used in Lander by negRo_slim · · Score: 4, Interesting

    http://www.edn.com/article/CA6465468.html

    --
    On the Oregon Cost born and raised, On the beach is where I spent most of my days
  2. next spring? by Silm · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I'm just wondering - what is gonna happen next summer? is there a chance that some stuff still works, after the CO2 ice thaws in the "spring"? or would the damage from the freezing be irriversible? what conditions are we talking about midwinter - about a meter of CO2 ice? what damage would that do?

  3. Re:Foresight? by sweetooth · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It was named Phoenix as the mission was originally scrapped after the polar lander crash. When they revived the project they renamed it Phoenix. It's also unlikely that it will be revived in the next martian summer. The reason being that where the rover is, it will be cold enough for the solar cells and other components to be destroyed.