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Raise a glass to the Red Planet
Oct. 30th, 2008 08:19 pmMars Phoenix, the Twittering Robot Science Lab That Could, which brought us an infectious sense of the excitement of space science with its tweet "woot! it's water ice!", is closing down its heaters and going, slowly, into the long dark Martian winter. It is not expected to survive.
The mission was a triumph. It'll keep on doing science while it's still alive.
One of the penultimate posts from Phoenix: "Take care of that beautiful blue marble out there in space, our home planet. I’ll be keeping an eye from here. Space exploration FTW!" Brings a genuine tear to my eye. Take care under all that carbon dioxide snow, you hear.
Phoenix has a Lazarus Mode which may bring it back to life a few times before it finally closes down, and then possibly in Martian spring. The extreme cold that Phoenix has to withstand is expected to nix the electronics, though.
I want to live long enough to visit it and graffiti "still alive" on its solar panels.
The JPL boffins describe this encroaching darkness as "the bonus round at the end of [Phoenix's] extended mission." January will mark the five year anniversary of Spirit and Opportunity, the Mars Rovers. They were originally designed to run for 90 days. Some bonus rounds just keep on giving.
The mission was a triumph. It'll keep on doing science while it's still alive.
One of the penultimate posts from Phoenix: "Take care of that beautiful blue marble out there in space, our home planet. I’ll be keeping an eye from here. Space exploration FTW!" Brings a genuine tear to my eye. Take care under all that carbon dioxide snow, you hear.Phoenix has a Lazarus Mode which may bring it back to life a few times before it finally closes down, and then possibly in Martian spring. The extreme cold that Phoenix has to withstand is expected to nix the electronics, though.
I want to live long enough to visit it and graffiti "still alive" on its solar panels.
The JPL boffins describe this encroaching darkness as "the bonus round at the end of [Phoenix's] extended mission." January will mark the five year anniversary of Spirit and Opportunity, the Mars Rovers. They were originally designed to run for 90 days. Some bonus rounds just keep on giving.
