http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20100525/tsc-nasa-ends-phoenix-lander-efforts-4b158bc.html
NASA ends Phoenix lander efforts
Nasa has declared the three-legged Phoenix lander spacecraft officially dead after repeated failed attempts to regain contact.
A recent image taken by an orbiting spacecraft appeared to show one of Phoenix's solar panels had collapsed from ice build-up.
Phoenix landed near the Martian north pole on May 25 2008, and successfully operated for five months - two months longer than planned - until sunlight at its far northern location waned.
Scientists did not expect it to survive the Martian winter but continued to listen for any signs of life. "We had very little expectation of Phoenix recovering, but it's one of those things we had to try even when the chances are slim," said mission principal investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona in Tucson.
Puts on tinfoil hat.
NASA ends Phoenix lander efforts
Nasa has declared the three-legged Phoenix lander spacecraft officially dead after repeated failed attempts to regain contact.
A recent image taken by an orbiting spacecraft appeared to show one of Phoenix's solar panels had collapsed from ice build-up.
Phoenix landed near the Martian north pole on May 25 2008, and successfully operated for five months - two months longer than planned - until sunlight at its far northern location waned.
Scientists did not expect it to survive the Martian winter but continued to listen for any signs of life. "We had very little expectation of Phoenix recovering, but it's one of those things we had to try even when the chances are slim," said mission principal investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona in Tucson.
Puts on tinfoil hat.
