Farewell to the Phoenix

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has ended operations after repeated attempts to contact the spacecraft were unsuccessful. A new image transmitted by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows signs of severe ice damage to the lander's solar panels.

The spacecraft succeeded in its investigations and exceeded its planned lifetime.

 

A view of one of the Mars Phoenix Lander's solar panels
from a composite of multiple exposures taken by the spacecraft's camera.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University Arizona/Texas A&M University Larger image

Phoenix reported on summer conditions at the far-northern Mars site where it landed May 25, 2008. The solar-powered lander completed its three-month mission and kept working until sunlight waned two months later.

Unfortunately, Phoenix was not designed to survive the dark, cold, icy winter.