NASA Hearing Daily From Weak Phoenix Mars Lander

MARSDAILY

Artist concept of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

by Staff Writers
Pasadena CA (SPX) Nov 05, 2008
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.

The fraction of each day with sun above the horizon is declining at the Martian arctic landing site. Dust raised by a storm last week continues to block some of the sunshine.

"This is exactly the scenario we expected for the mission's final phase, though the dust storm brought it a couple weeks sooner than we had hoped," said Phoenix Project Manager Barry Goldstein of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

"We will be trying to gain some additional science during however many days we have left. Any day could be our last."

Mission engineers at JPL and at Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, are attempting this week to upload commands to be stored in the lander's flash memory for science activities to be conducted when the lander wakes up each day.

"Weather observations are our top priority now," said Phoenix Principal Investigator Peter Smith. "If there's enough energy, we will try to get readings from the conductivity probe that has been inserted into the soil, and possibly some images to assess frost buildup."

Phoenix landed on Mars May 25. It accomplished its main science goals during the three months originally planned as its prime mission, then continued operating, now in its sixth month.

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS
Solar Energy Solutions
Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ...

Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News

MARSDAILY

NASA: Phoenix weak and getting weaker

Pasadena, Calif. (UPI) Nov 4, 2008
The U.S. space agency says its Phoenix Mars Lander has communicated with controllers daily since Sunday, but it is becoming weaker.

CIVIL NUCLEAR Czech nuclear power station shutdown extended Austria should exit Euratom Treaty: Green party IAEA experts going back to quake-hit Japan nuclear plant Areva shares rise sharply on US nuclear waste deal	CLIMATE SCIENCE Conclusive Proof That Polar Warming Is Being Caused By Humans World Bank Trys To Keep Global Warming On Agenda Climate: Britain's Royal Society to examine geo-engineering ideas Study Helps Clarify Role Of Soil Microbes In Global Warming
FARM NEWS Nestle withdraws cereal product from US on pesticide concerns China finds tainted Japan soy sauce, coffee China livestock feed safe but problems remain: minister China to tighten control of feed industry: state media	FLORA AND FAUNA EU launches Alpine flora and fauna protection plan Confirming Amphibians' Ability To Predict Changes In Biodiversity 1000 Tags Reveal Mysteries Of Giant Bluefin Tuna Pesticide, fertilisers linked to decline of amphibians: study
ROCKET SCIENCE First Rocket Parts Of NASA's New Launch System Arrive In Florida More design flaws found in Ares I rocket Copenhagen Suborbitals Tests Hybrid Rocket Successful First Test For Vega's Zefiro 9-A Solid-Fuel Rocket Motor	NUCLEAR SPACE Nuclear Power In Space - Part 2 Outside View: Nuclear future in space Nuclear Power In Space
EARTH OBSERVATION Arctic Sea Ice Thinning At Record Rate NASA-Enhanced Dust Storm Predictions To Aid Health Community GeoEye Releases First Image Collected By GeoEye-1 Maps Shed Light On CO2's Global Nature	TECH SPACE NOAA-N Prime Satellite Arrives At Vandenberg For Launch Intelsat Retires The Oldest Commercial CommSat Kazakh Satellite Brought Back Into Orbit The Sky Isn't Falling And That's A Problem

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright Space.TV Corporation. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space.TV Corp on any Web page published or hosted by Space.TV Corp. Privacy Statement