NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander may not arise again

William Atkins
Saturday, 01 November 2008 18:39

Science - Space

The Phoenix spacecraft is part of the NASA Mars Scout Program.

For this part of the program, NASA scientists are using Phoenix to look for environments on Mars that are adaptable for microbial life and that might hold a history of water for the planet.

Phoenix is the sixth successful landing by NASA (out of twelve) onto the Martian surface, and the first polar landing in NASA’s history.

We can only hope and wait to see if Phoenix returns to operational status.

If it does, its mission on the Red Planet is very limited as the bitter cold winter and high dusty conditions continue to deplete its power reserves.

The Phoenix spacecraft is the early start of a series of exploration vehicles set to explore the planet Mars.

In the 2010s, NASA plans many more orbiter, rover, and lander missions to Mars. Its first rock/soil sample return mission is set for 2014 or later. In it, samples of Martian dirt and rock will be scooped up and returned to Earth for analysis.