NASA Mars Phoenix Lander Digging and Analyzing Soil as Darkness Gathers: related news

NASA Mars Phoenix Lander Digging and Analyzing Soil as Darkness Gathers

As fall approaches Mars' northern plains, NASA's Phoenix Lander continues to dig into the red planet's soil and deliver samples to its onboard science instruments for analysis.

RIP Mars Phoenix Lander

Mars Phoenix Lander finalAfter five months of scraping and digging into the soil at a lonely spot near the Martian north pole, NASA’s Mars Phoenix Lander has finally succumbed to the cold, dark Martian winter. NASA scientists announced yesterday that they hadn’t received a communication from the lander since November 2, and pronounced the death of Phoenix.

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander Ceased Communications

Goodbye Phoenix Mars Lander. May be we will see you on Mars somewhere when we get there ourselves. You did a great job sending wonderful images of Mars and letting the humanity know more about the red planet. NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has ceased communications after operating for more than five months.

NASA declares Phoenix Mars lander dead

After months of dust storms and severe cold, NASA's Phoenix Mars lander has been declared dead by mission scientists, who celebrated the probe's success as the first to touch ice on the red planet.ice-in-martian-soil-300x245 NASA declares Phoenix Mars lander dead

NASA Says Phoenix Mars Mission Has Ended

This artist's rendering provided by NASA shows the Phoenix Mars spacecraft. NASA said Monday, Nov. 10. 2008, that the Phoenix Mars mission has ended. The lander has been digging trenches and conducting science experiments since May, to study whether the environment on Mars could support primitive life. (AP Photo/NASA)

Phoenix lander still operating on Mars

This July 31, 2008 NASA photo shows a portion of a larger panoramic photo mosaic made up of more than 400 images taken by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander. A section of the spacecraft along with its meteorology mast, topped by the telltale wind gauge, can be seen with the bleak Mars landscape in the background. NASA has announced they will be extending the Phoenix mission until the end of September after the lander recently found evidence of water on the Martian surface. (UPI Photo/NASA)

Phoenix ready to analyze Mars soil samples

This June 2008 NASA photos show the robotic arm on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander carrying a scoop full of Martian soil. NASA has announced they will be extending the Phoenix mission until the end of September after the lander recently found evidence of water on the Martian surface. (UPI Photo/NASA)

Phoenix Lander Will Listen to the Sounds of Mars

We may be able to hear, for the first time, what it sounds like on the surface of Mars. The Phoenix Lander has a microphone on board, which will be switched on in upcoming days of operations. "This is definitely a first," said Phoenix principal investigator Peter Smith. The microphone is a part of the Mars Descent Imager (MARDI) system on the underside of the lander designed to take images of Mars' surface during the lander's descent. However, the system was never used. Tests of the system during the flight to Mars revealed the possibility that using it might cause other parts of the landing system to not function correctly. But using it later wasn't ruled out. So, after updated software is sent to the lander, the microphone will be turned on.

NASA Mars Phoenix Lander Digging and Analyzing Soil as Darkness Gathers

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Mars Lander Mission Over Says NASA

The Phoenix lander hasn't been heard from since the 2nd of November, which is believed to be due to the beginning of the Martian winter and a recent dust storm. Scientists have made efforts to re-establish contact with the spacecraft, but aren't expecting the silence to be broken. They do however, hold out hope that the lander may surprise them and will also make attempts to reactive the Phoenix once the warmth of Spring kicks in. Since the Phoenix landed on Mars on May 25th this year, it has uncovered information about the chemical composition of the soil on the red planet. NASA's next Mars mission is due to launch next summer, though could be set back until 2011.

NASA Mars Lander Sees Falling Snow, Soil Data Suggests Liquid Past

WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has detected snow falling from Martian clouds. Spacecraft soil tests experiments also have provided evidence of past interaction between minerals and liquid water, processes that occur on Earth. A laser instrument designed to gather knowledge of how the atmosphere and surface interact on Mars, detected snow from clouds about 2.5 miles above the spacecraft's landing site. Data show the snow vaporizing before reaching the ground. "Nothing like this view has ever been seen on Mars," said Jim Whiteway, of

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander becomes silent

This artist's concept depicts NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander a moment before its 2008 touchdown on the arctic plains of Mars. Pulsed rocket engines control the spacecraft's speed during the final seconds of descent. Phoenix touched down on the Red Planet at 4:53 p.m. Pacific Time (7:53 p.m. Eastern Time), May 25, 2008, in an arctic region called Vastitas Borealis, at 68 degrees north latitude, 234 degrees east longitude. (UPI Photo/NASA/JPL-Calech/University of Arizona)

Phoenix Lander Working Hard Before Summer's End on Mars

The Phoenix Mars Lander is working as fast as it can to dig and deliver as many samples as possible before the power produced by Phoenix's solar panels declines due to the end of the Martian summer. This image, from Sol 107 (Sept. 12 here on Earth), shows the lander has delivered a sample of soil from the "Snow White" trench to the Wet Chemistry Laboratory. A small pile of soil is visible on the lower edge of the second cell from the top. This deck-mounted lab is part of Phoenix's Microscopy, Electrochemistry and Conductivity Analyzer (MECA).

NASA pulling plug on Mars lander

This artist rendition provided by NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory shows the Phoenix lander on the arctic plains of Mars digging a trench through the upper soil layer. After five months, NASA is shutting down key instruments aboard the Phoenix spacecraft to conserve power.

Martian deep freeze: NASA's Mars Lander dies in the dark

FRAMINGHAM - After five months digging up and analyzing soil samples on Mars, verifying the existence of ice and noting that snow falls from Martian skies, NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has gone silent.

NASA Hearing Daily From Weak Phoenix Mars Lander

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has communicated with controllers daily since Oct. 30 through relays to Mars orbiters. Information received over the weekend indicates Phoenix is running out of power each afternoon or evening but reawakening after its solar arrays catch morning sunlight.

NASA declares Phoenix Mars lander dead

Washington, Nov 11: After months of dust storms and severe cold, NASA's Phoenix Mars lander has been declared dead by mission scientists, who celebrated the probe's success as the first to touch ice on the red planet. Mission managers said on Monday that Phoenix had lasted long after its planned 90 days, and they celebrated the success of the spacecraft. "It's really an Irish wake and not a funeral," said Peter Smith, Phoenix mission principal investigator at the University of Arizona in Tucson, in a teleconference call with reporters.

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander Guest Blogging on Giz

We'd like to introduce our newest guest blogger—the Phoenix Mars Lander. With a successful mission starting to wind down as a cold winter rapidly descends upon its landing site in the Martian arctic, we're pretty happy that Phoenix, (already a prolific Twitterer) has agreed to look back with us on its amazing life over the course of its final days on Mars. Here Phoenix starts with the very beginning of the story. We're pretty sure a spacecraft has never guest-edited a blog before. Enjoy.

NASA Can't Reach Mars Lander, Ends Mission

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander monitors the atmosphere overhead and reaches out to the soil below in this artist's depiction of the spacecraft fully deployed on the surface of Mars. (NASA/JPL/UA/Lockheed Martin)

Phoenix Lander Mission Ends, but Scientists Continue to Look for Signs of Life on Mars

NASA confirmed the inevitable: After landing in May and studying the Martian surface—and finding ice in the soil and snow in the air—the Phoenix Lander has gone quiet. Project science leader Peter Smith of the University of Arizona told PM yesterday that the team last received a signal from the Mars lander on Nov. 2, but since then had been trying to reach it, hoping the lander would wake up. "After a week of trying, it was getting to a point of facing reality," Smith said.

Next Mars Soil Scoop Slated for Last of Lander's Wet Lab Cells

The next soil sample that NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander will deliver to its deck instruments will go to the fourth of the four cells of Phoenix's wet chemistry laboratory, according to the Phoenix team's current plans.

NASA Phoenix Lander Sees Snow Falling on Mars

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has detected snow falling from Martian clouds. Spacecraft soil experiments also have provided evidence of past interaction between minerals and liquid water, processes that occur on Earth.

NASA Mars Lander Sees Falling Snow, Soil Data Suggest Liquid Past

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has detected snow falling from Martian clouds. Spacecraft soil experiments also have provided evidence of past interaction between minerals and liquid water, processes that occur on Earth.

NASA Mars Lander Sees Falling Snow, Soil Data Suggest Liquid Past

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has detected snow falling from Martian clouds. Spacecraft soil experiments also have provided evidence of past interaction between minerals and liquid water, processes that occur on Earth.

NASA slowly disabling Phoenix Mars lander

Washington - NASA's Phoenix Mars lander is slowly dying on the red planet, after the US space agency shut off one of the craft's heaters in a bid to save energy. The move was designed to briefly extend the life of the craft, but as NASA gradually tur...

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