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Phoenix Mars Mission
Illustration of the Phoenix lander (Image: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, University of Arizona)
The Phoenix Mars Lander was the first mission to explore the Arctic region of Mars at ground level. Phoenix was launched from the Kennedy Space Centre aboard a Delta II rocket at 5:26 a.m. EDT on August 4, 2007. It landed near Mars's northern polar cap on May 25, 2008 in an area known as Vastitas Borealis, where it continued to operate successfully for more than five months (far beyond its planned 90-day lifespan).
NEWS
Phoenix does not phone home, new image shows damage
NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has ended operations after repeated attempts to contact the spacecraft were unsuccessful. A new image transmitted by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows signs of severe ice damage to the lander's solar panels.
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Mission
Canada's Contribution
Cool Stuff
York University leads the Canadian science team with the participation of the University of Alberta, Dalhousie University, Optech and Natural Resources Canada (Geological Survey of Canada), the Canadian Space Agency and international collaboration from the Finnish Meteorological Institute. MDA Space Missions is the prime contractor for the meteorological station, in partnership with Optech. The telltale on the meteorological station's mast was contributed by the University of Aarhus, with support from the University of Alberta.
The Phoenix Mission is led by Principal Investigator Peter H. Smith of the University of Arizona, supported by a science team of CO-Is, with project management at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and development partnership with Lockheed Martin Space Systems. International contributions are provided by the Canadian Space Agency; the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland; the universities of Copenhagen and Aarhus Denmark; the Max Planck Institute, Germany; and the Finnish Meteorological Institute.
