Phoenix Mars Lander Signs Off

NASA has said that the Mars Lander, Phoenix, has sent its last signal and the Space Agency do not expect to hear from the probe again.

Barry Goldstein of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which managed the $475 million mission to search for water on the red planet, told the Associated Press that NASA did not expect to hear from the probe again.

"We are actually ceasing operations, declaring an end of mission operations at this point," said project manager.

Phoenix was never supposed to be a long term mission. Powered by solar panels, the Mars winter means that the machine will no longer be able to receive enough light to continue its day to day tasks. Launched five months ago, the lander has been keeping those interested up to date via first person Tweets. To date, it’s latest entry on the microblogging site reads, “Veni, vidi, fodi,” which translates as I came, I saw, I dug.

Ending the craft’s 422 million mile journey through space (a distance that took 10 months to cover), the Phoenix spacecraft parachuted softly to the surface of Mars at 7:53pm (Eastern time) on Sunday May 25. Phoenix sped through the Martian atmosphere at speeds of 12,000 mph with temperatures on its heat shield reaching 2,600 degrees Fahrenheit.

However, following the seamless landing, a radio glitch prevented the lander from beginning unfurling its 7.7 ft robotic arm, an essential tool for the three months of scheduled digging. The problem prevented Phoenix from communicating with one of the two orbiters circling the planet, which NASA was using to communicate with the lander.

This problem was short lived and the following five months saw the Mars Lander dig and perform tests with samples of Martian soil. The Associated Press reports that over the five month period, Phoenix determined the soil was slightly alkaline, detected falling snow and found minerals that suggest the ice may have melted at some point, although the soil is currently bone-dry.