Unshelved by Bill Barnes and Gene Ambaum
comic strip overdue media

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Oh :( The little probe that could has faded to oblivion



Nasa Mars mission declared dead: Nasa says its Phoenix lander on the surface of Mars has gone silent and is almost certainly dead

It lasted two months longer than planned, found water ice in the soil, sent back over 25,000 pictures, filmed a dust devil, and found chemicals that are capable of harbouring microbes. I followed it on Twitter during the better part of its mission. Located in the high latitude near Mars' northern polar region, its systems were expected to shut down due to temperatures reaching -212 degrees Fahrenheit and the fading light, made worse by a dust storm.

As a mission, it was a great success, especially coming after two failures. See the graphic below for locations of the various missions. Click the pictures to enlarge them for better reading.
Locations of Mars missions

Goodnight.

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