Solar HERO: R.I.P. Phoenix

[Basil]

After continuing nearly twice as long as expected, the Mars Phoenix Lander has quit.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/11/081110-phoenix-mars-lander.html
More (http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/) info (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/main/index.html).

It's just too dark and too cold to keep going. :( But a heck of a ride while it lasted. :)


And who knows, it might start back up next (Martian) spring! It's certainly got the right name for it. :winkgrin:

[tkdguy]

Everyone knew that day would come. But it still sucks when it did.

I hadn't heard about any possibility of reviving it though. I hope that's the case, but I'm not sure.

[Basil]

I hadn't heard about any possibility of reviving it though. I hope that's the case, but I'm not sure.

Doesn't sound like anyone thinks there's much chance. :(

Still, give it about 11 months and start listening for a "beep".... ;)

[Captain Obvious]

Everyone knew that day would come. But it still sucks when it did.

I hadn't heard about any possibility of reviving it though. I hope that's the case, but I'm not sure.

It's a longshot, but there's the possibility that it will, once it warms up and the solar panels get a little light.

[Cancer]

The question is how much dust gets deposited on the panels during the storm. Probably way too much.

[Lawnmower Boy]

Ah, she'll come back.
Maybe as her half-daughter adopted child from an alternate future universe, but she'll come back. That's what X-Men do.


Or are we talking about different Phoenixes?

[Nyrath]

Ah, but as a plot seed, what if NASA got telemetry of a catastrophic failure of a critical component, just as Phoenix goes silent...

...and a couple of months later, Phoenix suddenly come back online. Almost as if somebody ... repaired it.

But who? Or what?

[Michael Hopcroft]

Ah, but as a plot seed, what if NASA got telemetry of a catastrophic failure of a critical component, just as Phoenix goes silent...

...and a couple of months later, Phoenix suddenly come back online. Almost as if somebody ... repaired it.

But who? Or what?

Sounds like somebody's been reading their Bradbury.

[Barton]

We will have to wait and see, some probes last longer than others. I hope NASA will be listening for the "beep".

[Maur]

I'd be very surprised if Phoenix awakened from the ashes come spring. Even if the panels survive intact, the rest of the probe will have been suffering through extremely cold temperatures without the benefit of heaters. From what I can gather, they are expecting CO2 Ice to destroy the electronics onboard.

[Barton]

I'd be very surprised if Phoenix awakened from the ashes come spring. Even if the panels survive intact, the rest of the probe will have been suffering through extremely cold temperatures without the benefit of heaters. From what I can gather, they are expecting CO2 Ice to destroy the electronics onboard.

It is still possible that the probe will survive. If the circuits are sealed from the environment they should survive. Dry Ice (frozen CO2) is "warm" in comparison to outer space. Even if dry ice forms on the circuit boards it depends if any connections are broken (due to freeze/thaw cycling). Likely you will see failures in circuits when this happens, but with surface mount technology now used it still has a chance (likely a small chance) . It will also depend on how the circuit boards are reheated, if slowly maybe the connections will not break...