NASA Ends Phoenix Mars Mission

After Almost Six Months On The Red Planet Lander Goes To Sleep

(CBS/AP)  NASA says the Phoenix Mars mission has ended.

The spacecraft arrived in the northern polar region of Mars in May. Since then, the lander has been digging trenches and conducting science experiments to study whether the environment on Mars could support primitive life.

Project manager Barry Goldstein said Monday the team has not heard from Phoenix since Nov. 2.

Goldstein said the space agency will continue to use overhead orbiters to try to communicate with Phoenix, but the chances are slim that the spacecraft will wake up.

The mission was scheduled to last three months, but Phoenix has operated for more than five months. During its three-month prime mission, the sun stayed above the horizon, allowing Phoenix to dig trenches in the soil and collect ice bits for its various instruments to analyze.

NASA extended the mission to the end of September in August after soil tests revealed similarities with earth's soil and the lander discovered water on the surface of the planet. The soil and water tests bolstered scientists hope that Mars may be able to sustain life.

"There's nothing about it that would preclude life. In fact, it seems very friendly," mission scientist Samuel Kounaves of Tufts University said of the soil after the tests in June. "There's nothing about it that's toxic."

In its final days, overnight temperatures plunged to minus 141 degrees, and daytime temperatures reached only minus 50, the lowest temperatures during the mission. The lander also battled a dust storm, in late October, which drained its energy.

Click Here to see the CNET photo gallery of the Phoenix Mars Lander dig.

[claytonantho]

If you don''t know anything about NASA, know this, they will not tell anybody outside of their secret circle of what really happened to all the space crafts they have so-called "lost" over the years. The average person will never know what NASA does, considering all the coverups. So any news they give should not mean anything to anyone.

[human-being-2009]

While I do appreciate the expoloration of space and and other planets, I think we should also be responsible enough not to leave trash on other planets.

(Concerned Human)

[downtowner97]

Water cannot sustain life if it''s frozen. It is of no use unless microbes want to mix up some blended margaritas.

[brianbwb-2009]

Samuel Kounaves of Tufts University said of the soil after the tests in June. "There''s nothing about it that''s toxic."

I''d say minus 141, with a high of minus 50 is pretty toxic, I felt a minus 45 degree might just outside Ulaan Baator, Mongolia, it is so cold it feels like it is burning the skin. Being from Detroit, I thought I knew about cold weather, the Mongolian night breeze whispered, "Look son, you don''t know Jack".

[earache4]

Wish I could get a wrist watch to last that long....

[rushlimpdrug]

This is what happens when they don''t pack an extra
set of batteries.

This also happened to me when I visited Mars.

That is why when I visit other planets I pack an
extra set of batteries, and of course a comfortable
pillow.

A good pillow is just as important.

[sara48909]

There is no other program that has provided more to the people of our country than NASA and the space program. From the use of plastics to freeze dried food to science discoveries that continue to benefit us each and every day. I wish all my tax dollars provided the same return that NASA has provided. Obama can make cuts anywhere he likes but I truly hope he will find some way to increase the budget of NASA, even with the economic downturn in which we find our country. Modify NAFTA and penalize the companies that move jobs and money offshore. There are many places that cuts can be made and changes that will benefit our economy. Don''t let anyone''s shortmindedness destroy a program that continues to provide benefits to the public and private interests of our nation.

[bell-labs-me]

Very interesting. The lander found ice, and studied it. However, the most important question has not been answered; Did it find living or dead microorganisms? They can be detected by simple microscopic analysis. They spent a lot of money to say they found water without stating its composition or if it contained any microorganisms.

[glenncinca-2009]

Response to "a-thinker":
You obviously haven''t thought through this very well. Think about this: If your kind of small-minded thinking had won the day in Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries, America might never have been discovered. The masses yearning to be free might never have reached the shores of the United States, because there would not be a United States. Mankind has always been driven to explore beyond the horizon and has conquered the world because of it. Now we have our eyes set on another world. And some day, mankind might look back at today''s naysayers and thank God that they didn''t win the day in the 21st century either.

[colonieny]

Why not send up a piece of cheese and see if anything grows.

//that is how I find life in my fridge. Fungus and other stuff like that.

[a-thinker]

We spend billions trying to find out if a remote planet can support primitive life while government spending here at home on such issues as mental health and homelessness are tragically underfunded. What is wrong with this picture?