NASA ends effort to reach Phoenix Mars Lander

The Phoenix lander will not rise again.

NASA declared the three-legged spacecraft officially dead Monday 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 buildup.

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.

Slideshow  24 photos

The greatest hits from Mars

See two decades' worth of Red Planet images.

“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.

The Mars Odyssey orbiter flew over the Phoenix landing site more than 200 times this year in an attempt to regain communication. With spring arriving in the northern hemisphere last week, NASA tried again, but there was no response.

Earlier this month, an image taken by another spacecraft, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, showed changes in Phoenix’s shadows, consistent with predictions that hundreds of pounds of carbon dioxide ice accumulating on the spacecraft could bend or break its solar panels.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

As the first spacecraft to land in the Martian arctic plains, Phoenix used its robotic arm to dig trenches in the icy soil. One of its early accomplishments was confirming the presence of water ice at its landing site.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

The lander also detected traces of perchlorate in the soil. On Earth, the chemical can be found naturally in the Chilean desert where some extreme microbes use it as a source of energy. Long used in rocket fuel and other applications, perchlorate is now widely known as a water contaminant.

Phoenix was the first NASA robotic mission to use Twitter to communicate with the public. The tweets were courtesy of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s media relations office.

On Monday, this message appeared on Phoenix’s Twitter page: “From the team: Sleep well @MarsPhoenix. One chapter ends but more waits to be written with the science you returned.”