Topic: R.I.P. Phoenix

[Nemesis]

Link to full article

NASA  officially ended its Phoenix  Mars Lander operation today after a new image of the machine showed severe ice damage to its solar panels and repeated attempts to contact the spacecraft had failed.

Indeed an Odyssey image of Phoenix taken this month by its High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, or HiRISE, camera suggests the lander no longer casts shadows the way it did during its working lifetime, NASA stated. Apparent changes in the shadows cast by the lander are consistent with predictions of how Phoenix could be damaged by harsh winter conditions. It was anticipated that the weight of a carbon-dioxide ice buildup could bend or break the lander's solar panels. NASA stated it calculated hundreds of pounds of ice probably coated the lander in mid-winter.

"Before and after images are dramatically different," said Michael Mellon of the University of Colorado in Boulder, a science team member for both Phoenix and HiRISE. "The lander looks smaller, and only a portion of the difference can be explained by accumulation of dust on the lander, which makes its surfaces less distinguishable from surrounding ground."

[stoneyface]

<S> to a job well done

[Kreeargh]

<S> to a job well done

Same here except for the "hundreds of pounds of ICE " comment.  What was the size of this craft in the first place?

[Nemesis]

Same here except for the "hundreds of pounds of ICE " comment.  What was the size of this craft in the first place?

The "wings" for solar power can be quite a large surface area and very fragile.  It wasn't expected to survive the winter.