Phoenix on Mars: Extended Mission - Page 10

01101001 · #**271** (**permalink**) 06-November-2008, 07:26 PM

Gizmodo Guest Blogger: Phoenix Mars Lander

New: This is What Landing On Mars Feels Like

Quote:

In the end, my arrival to Mars went better than anyone had hoped. Not only did I do a perfect landing, but also my signal came through loud and clear from the start of atmospheric entry all the way to the ground.

One phase of my mission had ended and a new phase was beginning. It was time to open my eyes, look out across the Martian horizon, and pray I’d landed within reach of ice.

Sounds like Mars Phoenix's short life is flashing before her eyes...

===

Sniff. This might be the last time I have to propagate the link farm.
NASA Phoenix Mission
University of Arizona Phoenix Mars Mission
University of Arizona Phoenix Mars Mission: Lander Gallery Index
University of Arizona Phoenix Mars Mission: Press Release Gallery Index
University of Arizona Phoenix Mars Mission: Mosaic Gallery Index
JPL Phoenix Mission News
NASA Phoenix Multimedia
NASA Phoenix Twitter Feed
Gizmodo Guest Blogger: Phoenix Mars Lander
CSA Phoenix Mars Mission
Planetary Society: Phoenix Mission
Planetary Society: Phoenix Non-SSI Raw Images
Planetary Society: Phoenix Sol-By-Sol Summary
Planetary Society: Weblog
Emily Lakdawalla Ustream video chat (Wednesdays)
Texas A&M University Phoenix SSI Raw Images Directory
Unmanned Spaceflight Forum: Phoenix 2007/8
BBC Science: Phoenix diary
Google Mars landing site
NASA TV (or NASA TV Yahoo! source or high-resolution)
NASA TV Media Channel

01101001 · #**272** (**permalink**) 07-November-2008, 01:58 AM

Veni, vidi, fodi.

That's the winner announced by Wired for the @MarsPhoenix's Twitter Epitaphs

Quote:

Popular Vote
1.Veni, vidi, fodi. (I came, I saw, I dug.)
Graham Vosloo
2. So long and thanks for all the ice.
D. Adams
3. It is enough for me. But for you, I plead: go farther, still.
Fernando Rojas

Editorial College
1. I dug my own grave. And analyzed it.
Dorwinrin
2. Error 404: Lander Not Found!*
Fred Rogers
3. Water, water, everywhere, and not a drop that isn't already sublimating into the thin, frigid atmosphere.
Dylan Tweney

01101001 · #**273** (**permalink**) 10-November-2008, 09:38 PM

JPL Phoenix Mission News: Mars Phoenix Lander Finishes Successful Work on Red Planet (2008 November 10)

Quote:

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has ceased communications after operating for more than five months. As anticipated, seasonal decline in sunshine at the robot's arctic landing site is not providing enough sunlight for the solar arrays to collect the power necessary to charge batteries that operate the lander's instruments.

Mission engineers last received a signal from the lander on Nov. 2. Phoenix, in addition to shorter daylight, has encountered a dustier sky, more clouds and colder temperatures as the northern Mars summer approaches autumn. The mission exceeded its planned operational life of three months to conduct and return science data.

The project team will be listening carefully during the next few weeks to hear if Phoenix revives and phones home. However, engineers now believe that is unlikely because of the worsening weather conditions on Mars. [...]

Thank you, Phoenix. Some day, humans will come to see you. Be patient.

01101001 · #**274** (**permalink**) 10-November-2008, 09:47 PM

NASA Phoenix Twitter Feed

Quote:

[Phoenix Ops: We promised Phoenix to continue to update here its discoveries and future news. Another goodbye from Mars: http://is.gd/6Xfp]
half a minute ago from web

[Phoenix mission ops: We bid our good friend a fond farewell. Phoenix did us proud: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/vid...] [pointer to more persistent link to video, with transcript --01101001]
19 minutes ago from web

[From Phoenix mission ops: Phoenix is no longer communicating with Earth. We'll continue to listen, but it's likely its mission has ended.]
23 minutes ago from web

01010100 01110010 01101001 01110101 01101101 01110000 01101000 <3
30 minutes ago from web

(Binary/smiley to ASCII: Triumph heart) (Edit: by the way, notice my special call-out, bolded above!)

===

Gizmodo Guest Blogger: Phoenix Mars Lander

This is My Farewell Transmission From Mars [cited in Twitter, above]

Quote:

If you are reading this, then my mission is probably over.

This final entry is one that I asked be posted after my mission team announces they’ve lost contact with me. Today is that day and I must say good-bye, but I do it in triumph and not in grief. [...]

A few days ago: Martian Ice Is Why I'm Alive and Why I'm Dying

Swift · #**275** (**permalink**) 10-November-2008, 10:09 PM

Phoenix's last message to NASA: "So... so... cold. Everything is going dark...."

But seriously, Phoenix and the whole mission team, we salute you.

And 01101001, nice job, as usual.

01101001 · #**276** (**permalink**) 10-November-2008, 10:13 PM

Wired: Mars Phoenix Returns to Ashes

Quote:

The Mars Phoenix Lander mission has officially come to its long-anticipated end.

Originally slated for a mere 90 days near the Martian north pole, clever NASA power engineers kept the Lander doing science for nearly two months beyond that goal. But now mission officials are certain: the lander has run out of power for its internal heater and is presumed to be frozen on the arctic plane.
[...]
The mission's legacy, however, will not be defined by its longevity so much as by its problem-light successes and legions of fans. Driven by a clever social media strategy that built a huge Twitter following, the NASA mission struck a chord with space lovers, who watched with rapt attention as the lander made a picture-perfect landing and proceeded to beome the first human spacecraft to "taste" Martian water.

"If we're successful, this mission will be remembered for being the first to do direct analysis of ice or water on the surface of Mars," predicted NASA's Mike Gross, who engineered the mission's scientific instrumentation, back in May. [...]

BBC News: Nasa Mars mission declared dead

Quote:

The spacecraft has been searching for water and studying the planet's soil to see if it has ever been capable of supporting life.

Phoenix has recorded snowfall, scraped up bits of ice and found that Martian dust chemically resembles seawater on Earth.

Experts have said these finds add to evidence that liquid water, capable perhaps of supporting life, once stood on the planet's surface. [...]

KaiYeves · #**277** (**permalink**) 10-November-2008, 10:29 PM

That's it, then?
Gosh, I really feel I should say something profound, but I can't think of anything. I've never lost a robot that I cared about so much.

Swift · #**278** (**permalink**) 10-November-2008, 10:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KaiYeves

That's it, then?
Gosh, I really feel I should say something profound, but I can't think of anything. I've never lost a robot that I cared about so much.

Just ask the Beagle 2 people, they would have been very happy to have this much. And Phoenix will also have something that any of us mortals (carbon or non-carbon) can be proud of, a legacy that will last long after we are gone.

slang · #**279** (**permalink**) 10-November-2008, 11:48 PM

See you in Martian spring, Phoenix! (Oh well, one can hope, innit?)

Thanks robot, thanks team, and thanks again 01101001.

KaiYeves · #**280** (**permalink**) 11-November-2008, 01:12 AM

Quote:

See you in Martian spring, Phoenix! (Oh well, one can hope, innit?)

Certainly! I have hope!

01101001 · #**281** (**permalink**) 11-November-2008, 02:29 AM

Yes, as a matter of fact, Steve the Cat did make it off Mars safely, and is on his way home!

His craft involves a Faberge Egg and bunches of asparagus grown on the plains of Green Valley. I'm not sure I understand this technology.

Go, Steve!

KaiYeves · #**282** (**permalink**) 11-November-2008, 02:59 AM

Quote:

Yes, as a matter of fact, Steve the Cat did make it off Mars safely, and is on his way home!

His craft involves a Faberge Egg and bunches of asparagus grown on the plains of Green Valley. I'm not sure I understand this technology.

Go, Steve!

I was just thinking of Steve! Glad to know he's okay. The plan is for his Egg craft to coast to Earth for a few months, then enter Earth orbit and spend some time on the ISS.

geonuc · #**283** (**permalink**) 11-November-2008, 11:45 AM

Well, if this is it for the little Martian dirt digger, I'll say nice job by the Phoenix lander and team. I guess we're kind of used to our Mars landers exceeding their design lifetimes, so having Phoenix die as expected is a bit disappointing.

ETA: Phoenix actually did exceed its expected life, but still sad to see it end.

antoniseb · #**284** (**permalink**) 11-November-2008, 02:11 PM

I have unstuck this thread, as the mission is now ended.

djellison · #**285** (**permalink**) 11-November-2008, 02:43 PM

Like pulling off a band-aid, unsticking was best done quickly, without looking. I had to do something similar at UMSF (close the SOl 150+ thread, start and end-of-mission thread)

Doug

01101001 · #**286** (**permalink**) 11-November-2008, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by antoniseb

I have unstuck this thread, as the mission is now ended.

Ah... floating freely at last...

For the archaeologists -- and areologists -- to tie the stages together, here is an index of Phoenix current-events topics:
Phoenix mission (2005 February 28)
Phoenix Mars mission countdown and launch thread (2007 July 11)
Phoenix EDL: The Seven Minutes of Terror thread (2008 May 25)
Phoenix early surface activities (2008 May 25)
Phoenix on Mars (2008 June 1)
Phoenix on Mars: Extended Mission (this topic) (2008 August 25)

antoniseb · #**287** (**permalink**) 11-November-2008, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djellison

Like pulling off a band-aid, unsticking was best done quickly, without looking. I had to do something similar at UMSF (close the SOl 150+ thread, start and end-of-mission thread)

Doug

It's been a great mission. I'm glad for the discussions both here and at UMSF.

Nadme · #**288** (**permalink**) 11-November-2008, 07:27 PM

RIP Phoenix. It was inevitable and a great mission.

Trebuchet · #**289** (**permalink**) 11-November-2008, 08:39 PM

How long will it take for the "NASA is wasting money on space while there are problems here on Earth" folks to claim this as another NASA failure?

Well done, Phoenix. Well done, NASA.

01101001 · #**290** (**permalink**) 11-November-2008, 10:09 PM

Farewell Phoenix by a fan (Cumbrian Sky Blog, Stuart Atkinson) is a good read.

Quote:

And you know, even though it was “just” an exquisitely-manufactured and engineered collection of metal parts, glass lenses and silicon panels, I feel very, very sad that she’s gone. This is the first working, succesful spaceprobe I’ve felt close to that I’ve “lost”. The Vikings were before my time, really, and although I was so looking forward to ollowing Beagle 2’s adventure on Mars, that never happened because it almost certainly turned itself into a spray of thousands of tinkling, twinkly pieces when it slammed into Mars. No, Phoenix is the first major space mission that I have followed from conception to end-of-mission, and yes, losing her hurts. [...]

Swift · #**291** (**permalink**) 11-November-2008, 10:58 PM

Thanks 01101001, that was a nice piece. Now I'm getting all mushy about Phoenix and it got me thinking back to the beginning, to the landing on Mars. I still think the photo of Phoenix under its parachute, taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is just about the coolest thing ever, and I think what the BA wrote in his blog about it is still one of the best, most moving things he has written.

Quote:

Think on this, and think on it carefully: you are seeing a manmade object falling gracefully and with intent to the surface of an alien world, as seen by another manmade object already circling that world, both of them acting robotically, and both of them hundreds of million of kilometers away.

Never, ever forget: we did this. This is what we can do.

KaiYeves · #**292** (**permalink**) 11-November-2008, 11:36 PM

Quote:

And you know, even though it was “just” an exquisitely-manufactured and engineered collection of metal parts, glass lenses and silicon panels, I feel very, very sad that she’s gone. This is the first working, successful spaceprobe I’ve felt close to that I’ve “lost”. The Vikings were before my time, really, and although I was so looking forward to ollowing Beagle 2’s adventure on Mars, that never happened because it almost certainly turned itself into a spray of thousands of tinkling, twinkly pieces when it slammed into Mars. No, Phoenix is the first major space mission that I have followed from conception to end-of-mission, and yes, losing her hurts.

This person and I think exactly the same way. Except that while I had an interest in Mars at the time of Beagle 2, it wasn't the check-the-web-pages-every-day level I have now, and so this really is my first... I love you, Phoenix.

djellison · #**293** (**permalink**) 12-November-2008, 12:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KaiYeves

That's it, then?
I've never lost a robot that I cared about so much.

Try having a rover that you've followed, every day, for 5 years, the success of which has quite literally changed your life, drop to <90 whrs, less than half that required for simpy surviving.

It's terrifying - utterly terrifying.

01101001 · #**294** (**permalink**) 12-November-2008, 01:02 AM

Emily Lakdawalla eulogizes in Planetary Society Weblog: The end of Phoenix

Quote:

Phoenix is gone. We knew this would happen, and we even knew approximately when it would happen; the mathematics of solar input, solar panel output, and power consumption was relatively straightforward, so we knew from the moment that Phoenix survived its landing that it would most likely die some time in November. [...]

BA Blog: This time, Phoenix won’t arise from the ashes

KaiYeves · #**295** (**permalink**) 12-November-2008, 10:42 PM

Quote:

Try having a rover that you've followed, every day, for 5 years, the success of which has quite literally changed your life, drop to <90 whrs, less than half that required for simpy surviving.

It's terrifying - utterly terrifying.

I've been following Spirit as long as you have, and I'm every bit as terrified, but there's a difference between worry and plain old loss.
Spirit, get better soon!

01101001 · #**296** (**permalink**) 13-November-2008, 12:18 AM

In a world where cold and dark can kill...

Get misty all over again.

JPL Multimedia Videos Index is now playing Phoenix – A Tribute, video, about 2.5 minutes. (For my taste it's too choppy; maybe my computer needs a bandwidth transplant.)

KaiYeves · #**297** (**permalink**) 13-November-2008, 01:18 AM

Aw, that video's beautiful.

01101001 · #**298** (**permalink**) 13-November-2008, 06:23 AM

AJS Rayl, Planetary Society news: Sun Sets on Phoenix, NASA Declares End of Mission

Quote:

[...] Finding nutrients and energy sources leads, of course, to the question about habitability and whether the arctic area could have or does host microbial life. Answering the question of habitability was a primary objective for the Phoenix mission.

Have we found such a thing on Mars?” asked Smith, anticipating reporters’ inquiring minds. “Even if not now, as polar spin axis tilts more toward the Sun and the climate warms, could this place be a place where life exists? Now that operation phase is over, our science team can go back to labs and look at data in great detail and do analysis and interpretation that will lead to final results of our mission,” he said.

“We think that right now at this epic in Martian history it's certainly too cold for organisms to be alive, at least in the sense of Earth organisms,” Smith elaborated later. “The ice is just too cold. But we do think over time, as Mars’ climate changes, it could get warm enough that perhaps we could get films of liquid water or dampness in soil and that could create an environment where life could exist. That would be within the last few million years, recent in Mars’ history. We think that there’s nutrients and energy sources that it’s certainly possible that at a warmer, wetter period in Mars’ history this could be a habitable zone.” [...]

Very long and detailed summary.

01101001 · #**299** (**permalink**) 18-November-2008, 02:43 AM

Arizona Daily Star: Mars lander showed a human side, so fans took 'death' personally

Quote:

When the UA-led Phoenix Mars lander succumbed to the Red Planet's harsh arctic winter earlier this month, dedicated amateur space explorers who followed the mission for months felt as though they'd lost a loved one.

To them, Phoenix had become more than a complex mix of metal, solar panels and circuits — it was flesh and blood.
[...]
But McGregor soon realized that many people might not know that Phoenix was destined to stop working and become encased in dry ice.

Not wanting to catch people by surprise, she began preparing them for the inevitable end.

"They did get very emotionally attached, much more so than I expected," McGregor said. "So I spent some time trying to brace them for the loss."
[...]
While the mission has come to a close, McGregor plans to continue to update the mission's Twitter feed with new discoveries made after scientists have had an opportunity to analyze the data.

And while it might be too soon for friends of Phoenix who are still mourning the lander, McGregor has a new friend she'd like them to meet.

"I've started a page for the next rover headed to Mars, and about 2,900 people have signed up for it," she said.

Gizmodo: Meet Veronica McGregor, Mars Phoenix Lander's Humanoid Personality Construct

Quote:

Now with over 39,000 followers, with almost no one dropping the feed now that the mission is technically complete, MarsPhoenix is one of the biggest Tweeters in the history of the site. It no surprise, then, that Veronica has also been tweeting for the Spirit and Opportunity rovers (although not in first person, as per the mission director) and plans to carry on in first person for the upcoming Mars Science Lab mission.

MER Mission Director: let Spirit and Opportunity have personalities!

djellison · #**300** (**permalink**) 18-November-2008, 10:30 AM

Someone ( I don't know who ) did do specific Spirit and Opportunity tweets in the Phoenix style, but stopped when an official MER twitter feed started. I was tempted to try and start something along those lines myself, but I've seen first hand how time consuming twittering well can actually be.

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