Table of Contents

Phoenix: News

Will Phoenix Phone Home?

January 18, 2010

Beginning Jan. 18, NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter will listen for possible, though improbable, radio transmissions from the Phoenix Mars Lander, which completed five months of studying an arctic Martian site in November 2008.

The solar-powered lander operated two months longer than its three-month prime mission during summer on northern Mars before the seasonal ebb of sunshine ended its work. Since then, Phoenix's landing site has gone through autumn, winter and part of spring. The lander's hardware was not designed to survive the temperature extremes and ice-coating load of an arctic Martian winter.

In the extremely unlikely case that Phoenix survived the winter, it is expected to follow instructions programmed on its computer. If systems still operate, once its solar panels generate enough electricity to establish a positive energy balance, the lander would periodically try to reestablish contact with Earth.

"We do not expect Phoenix to have survived, and therefore do not expect to hear from it. However, if Phoenix is transmitting, Odyssey will hear it," said Chad Edwards, chief telecommunications engineer for the Mars Exploration Program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.

Phoenix sees potential Martian Dust Devil

October 17, 2008

This series of images show Phoenix's telltale instrument waving in the Martian wind. Documenting the telltale's movement helps mission scientists and engineers determine what the wind is like on Mars.

On the day these images were taken, one of the images shows a sudden burst, which might indicate a passing dust devil. The images taken right before and after the passing of this possible dust devil indicates winds from the west at 25 km/h. The image taken during the possible dust devil shows 40 km/h wind from the south.

These images were taken by the lander's Surface Stereo Imager on the 136^th Martian day, or sol, of the mission (October 12, 2008). Phoenix's telltale on the Canadian Space Agency's meteorological station mast was contributed by the University of Aarhus, with support from the University of Alberta.

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.

Phoenix Weathers Dust Storm

October 14, 2008

The Phoenix Mars Lander successfully weathered a regional dust storm that temporarily lowered its solar power, and the team is back investigating the Red Planet's northern plains.

The increasing opacity in the atmosphere from the storm decreased the power reaching the Phoenix's solar arrays. So on Martian days, or sols, 135-136 of the mission (Oct. 11-12), Phoenix scientists and engineers curtailed many of the lander's science activities, such as collecting some data from its onboard science laboratories.

The 37,000 square-kilometre storm moved from west to east, and weakened considerably by the time it reached the lander on Saturday, October 11. This tamer storm put the spacecraft in a better than expected situation, said Ray Arvidson of Washington University in St. Louis, the lead scientist for Phoenix's Robotic Arm.

Now the lander is busy meting out its power to analyze soil samples, collect atmospheric data, and conduct other activities before fall and winter stop Phoenix cold.

"Energy is becoming an issue, so we have to carefully budget our activities," Arvidson said.

The Phoenix team tracked the dust storm last week through images gleaned from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's Mars Color Imager. The imager's team estimated that after the dust storm passed through Phoenix's landing site on Saturday, the dust would gradually decrease this week.

This dust storm is a harbinger of more wintry and volatile weather to come. As Martian late summer turns into fall, the Phoenix team anticipates more dust storms, frost in trenches, and water-ice clouds. They look forward to collecting data and documenting this "most interesting season," Arvidson said.

This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured a 37,000 square-kilometre dust storm that moved counter-clockwise through the Phoenix landing site on October 11, 2008. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems

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.

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.

Phoenix Mars Lander Sees Falling Snow

September 29, 2008

The Canadian Space Agency's lidar (a laser instrument designed to gather knowledge of how the atmosphere and surface interact on Mars) has detected snow from clouds about 4 kilometres above the spacecraft's landing site. Data show the snow vaporizing before reaching the ground.

"Nothing like this view has ever been seen on Mars," said Jim Whiteway, of York University, Toronto, lead scientist for the Canadian-supplied Meteorological Station on Phoenix. "We'll be looking for signs that the snow may even reach the ground."

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.

Phoenix's Landing Site

September 29, 2008

NASA's Phoenix Mars Mission landed at 68.2 degrees north latitude, 234.2 degrees east longitude. The far-northern location of the site is indicated on this global view from the Mars Orbiter Camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/MSSS

Phoenix's Laser Beam in Action on Mars

September 29, 2008

The Surface Stereo Imager camera aboard NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander acquired a series of images of the laser beam in the Martian night sky. Bright spots in the beam are reflections from ice crystals in the low level ice-fog. The brighter area at the top of the beam is due to enhanced scattering of the laser light in a cloud. The Canadian-built lidar instrument emits pulses of laser light and records what is scattered back.

Full-Circle Color Panorama Animation of Phoenix Lander Deck and Landing Site on Northern Mars

September 29, 2008

This view combines more than 500 images taken after NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander arrived on an arctic plain at 68.22 degrees north latitude, 234.25 degrees east longitude on Mars.

This movie makes a slow tour around highlights of the image including the landscape and the spacecraft's science deck.

The full-circle panorama in approximately true color shows the polygonal patterning of ground at the landing area, similar to patterns in permafrost areas on Earth. The center of the image is the westward part of the scene. Trenches where Phoenix's robotic arm has been exposing subsurface material are visible in the right half of the image. The Canadian Space Agency's meteorology mast, topped by the Danish telltale wind gauge, extends into the sky portion of the panorama. The Canadian-built lidar box is also visible in the very beginning of the animation (the white, rectangular box in the foreground).

This view comprises more than 100 different Stereo Surface Imager camera pointings, with images taken through three different filters at each pointing. It is presented here as a cylindrical projection.

Martian Clouds above the Phoenix Lander

September 25, 2008

The Surface Stereo Imager onboard NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander observed clouds drifting across the horizon in the early morning on the 119th sol, or Martian day, since landing (September 25, 2008). Clouds were observed each night after Sol 80 (August 15, 2008) as the atmospheric temperature decreased.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University
Arizona/Texas A&M University

Phoenix Sees, Feels Martian Whirlwinds in Action

September 11, 2008

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has photographed several dust devils dancing across the arctic plain this week and sensed a dip in air pressure as one passed near the lander.

These dust-lofting whirlwinds had been expected in the area, but none had been detected in earlier Phoenix images.

The Surface Stereo Imager camera on Phoenix took 29 images of the western and southwestern horizon on September 8, during mid-day hours of the lander's 104th Martian day. The next day, after the images had been transmitted to Earth, the Phoenix science team noticed a dust devil right away.

"It was a surprise to have a dust devil so visible that it stood with just the normal processing we do," said Mark Lemmon of Texas A&M University, College Station, lead scientist for the stereo camera. "Once we saw a couple that way, we did some additional processing and found there are dust devils in 12 of the images."

At least six different dust devils appear in the images, some of them in more than one image. They range in diameter from about 2 metres to about 5 metres.

Phoenix monitors air pressure every day using the Canadian Space Agency's weather station. On the same day the camera saw dust devils, the pressure meter recorded a sharper dip than ever before. The change was still less than the daily change in air pressure from daytime to nighttime, but over a much shorter time.

"Throughout the mission, we have been detecting vortex structures that lower the pressure for 20 to 30 seconds during the middle part of the day," said Peter Taylor of York University, Toronto, Canada, a member of the Phoenix science team. "In the last few weeks, we've seen the intensity increasing, and now these vortices appear to have become strong enough to pick up dust."

A key factor in the whirlwinds getting stronger is an increase in the difference between daytime and nighttime temperatures. Daytime highs at the Phoenix site are still about minus 30 Celsius, but nighttime lows have been dropping a few degrees, getting close to minus 90 Celsius.

The same day as the dust devils were seen, Phoenix's telltale wind gauge indicated wind speeds exceeding 18 kilometres per hour.

Images from spacecraft orbiting Mars had previously indicated that dust devils exist in the region where Phoenix landed.

"We expected dust devils, but we are not sure how frequently," said Phoenix Project Scientist Leslie Tamppari of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. "It could be they are rare and Phoenix got lucky. We'll keep looking for dust devils at the Phoenix site to see if they are common or not."

Dust devils dancing across the Arctic plain near the Phoenix landing site. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Texas A&M University).

Martian Sunrise at Phoenix Landing Site, Sol 101

September 5, 2008

This sequence of nine images taken by the Surface Stereo Imager on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander shows the sun rising on the morning of the lander's 101st Martian day after landing.

The images were taken on September 5, 2008. The local solar times at the landing site for the nine images were between 1:23 a.m. and 1:41 a.m.

The landing site is on far-northern Mars, and the mission started in late northern spring. For nearly the entire first 90 Martian days of the mission, the sun never set below the horizon. As the amount of sunshine each day declined steadily after that, so has the amount of electricity available for the solar-powered spacecraft.

Frost Accumulation on Telltale Mirror

August 20, 2008

Bright specks of frost accumulate on the mirror of the telltale on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander in this series of images taken between 12:54 a.m. and 2:34 a.m. at the landing site during the 80th Martian day, or sol, of the mission (on Aug. 15, 2008).

During the early-morning period when these images were taken the wind was blowing steadily at about 5 meters per second (about 11 miles per hour) from the northeast, as indicated by the telltale.

The telltale is about 10 centimetres tall and sits atop the Canadian meteorological station's mast. The instrument was built by the University of Aarhus, Denmark, 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.

Watch the videoclip (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University Arizona/Texas A&M University/University of Aarhus/University of Copenhagen)

The Maple Leaf has Landed on Mars

May 27, 2008

On Monday, May 26, 2008, the Phoenix Mars Lander beamed back this image taken by the Surface Stereo Imager, showing the Canada wordmark displayed prominently on the side of the lidar instrument, a component of the Canadian-built Meteorology Station that will probe Mars's weather and climate. The lidar proudly bears the same Canada wordmark on its thermal blankets as the Space Shuttle's Canadarm, as well as Canadarm2, the Mobile Base System and Dextre, the Canadian robotics systems aboard the International Space Station.

News Release

May 25, 2008

The Maple Leaf Lands on Mars: Phoenix Carries Canadian Science and
Technology to the Red Planet