Phoenix Leaves Martian Science Legacy

Nov 16, 2008 By Craig Covault

The Phoenix Mars lander is leaving a legacy of discovery that will support arguments by some scientists that water-ice-rich portions of the planet's northern latitudes could have provided a habitat for the development of life in the recent geologic past.

The lander ceased transmissions Nov. 2 and is presumed dead by its Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Lockheed Martin control team. To confirm that, however, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Odyssey relay spacecraft that overfly Phoenix every 2 hr. have been sending "transmitter on" commands at every opportunity, says Barry Goldstein, JPL Phoenix project manager. That will be halted during the Martian winter but resumed next October when Phoenix batteries may have recharged.

But Goldstein believes survival will be highly unlikely because temperatures will probably shatter electronics boards and encase Phoenix in a shell of carbon dioxide ice that could break off its solar arrays.

Phoenix, which landed May 25, was certified for only a 90-day mission. The lander exceeded that by two months and may have survived three weeks longer had not a dust storm sharply increased the opacity of the atmosphere, preventing sunlight from powering the vehicle's solar arrays. Without a daily recharge, the spacecraft most likely ran out of battery power to run the heaters that protected critical electronics as nightly temperatures dip to -150F.

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