TEN YEARS AGO TODAY, the Phoenix Mars lander safely touched down on the Red Planet...starting a very successful mission that almost lasted 6 months even though it was only suppose to survive for 3. During its mission, Phoenix came in contact with water ice at its landing site on the Martian northern plain, which is why NASA sent the spacecraft there in the first place. The space agency had hoped the lander would come back to life after the mission came to an end on November 10, 2008 (due to low power being generated by Phoenix’s twin solar panels because of the onset of Martian winter), but an image taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2010 showed that there was no chance that Phoenix would ever come back to life.
Even though Phoenix now lies dormant near the Martian north pole, its legacy continues. Its successor—the InSight Mars lander—successfully launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California 20 days ago, and is set to touch down at Elysium Planitia on the Red Planet this Cyber Monday (November 26). Here's hoping that 2008 completely repeats itself with a successful arrival by InSight six months from now, and this lander joins the Curiosity and Opportunity rovers as the only active spacecraft on the surface of Mars. Happy Friday!
All images above courtesy of NASA / JPL - Caltech / University of Arizona / Texas A&M University
Lockheed Martin
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