Phoenix in winter (make that late summer, almost autumn)
Many people ask us if we are still imaging the Phoenix lander, and the answer is yes, as long as there is enough light. Here is our latest view of the landing site, acquired December 21, 2008. Conditions are hazy and dark because as the season approaches northern winter on Mars, the sun does not rise as high in the sky. Looks cold!
January 2nd, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Dear blogger, can you tell me when you expect the site to be in total darkness?
January 2nd, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Good question! Our targeting specialists use sophisticated software to determine what the local lighting conditions will be at a given location on Mars, but I used a program from NASA GISS that you can download from http://www.giss.nasa.gov/tools/mars24/ to get an estimate. I set the location to be the Phoenix Lander, and the plot window to show the local panorama looking south, with the data and a graphic of the sun’s path through the sky. It looks like in approximately another 3 months, the sun will not rise above the horizon at all. That will be April 1, 2009 here on Earth and L_s 238.68 degrees on the Mars calendar. This is only an estimate and does not take into account local topography.
January 2nd, 2009 at 7:40 pm
After winter ends, and the sun finally comes again over the horizon, are more HiRISE images scheduled to be taken or is it too early to tell? As I understand it, that would afford us the best time to see Phoenix “encased in ice”, as the ice should linger a while before evaporating. Am I wrong in my thinking?
January 3rd, 2009 at 3:06 pm
Hi Thomas,
We only plan specific images a few weeks in advance, so we don’t know for certain exactly what we’ll be taking next Martian northern spring. However, everyone is interested to see what happens to Phoenix, so I’m sure that will be on the list!
January 3rd, 2009 at 4:56 pm
[...] Mars, which will eventually have the Mars Phoenix Lander buried under a layer of ice, but right now it’s still exposed as can be seen from the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance [...]
January 4th, 2009 at 2:21 am
I also hope that Phoenix may rise once again
Though it’s almost impossible.
January 4th, 2009 at 4:12 am
[...] De Marslander Phoenix, wiens missie op 11 november door de NASA ‘werd beëindigd’, wordt nog steeds in de gaten gehouden. De Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) heeft met behulp van z’n HiRISE instrument de Phoenix gefotografeerd. Dat gebeurde op 21 december 2008 om 15.31 uur lokale Marstijd om precies te zijn. Schaal van de foto: 31,7 cm per pixel. Het is de eerste foto van Phoenix sinds het einde van de missie. De winter begint er aan te komen in dat gebied, maar de Phoenix is nog niet begraven onder de sneeuw. Op het moment van de foto stond de Zon 14° boven de horizon. Rond 1 april schijnt de Zon helemaal niet meer boven de horizon te komen, dus dan treedt een periode van totale duisternis in. Het HiRISE-team van de NASA is van plan de komende tijd vaker foto’s te maken van de Phoenix om de aangroei van sneeuw op het metalen oppervlak van de Phoenix in de gaten te houden. Op die manier is ook een morsdode Phoenix nog van wetenschappelijke waarde. Bron: HiRISE blog. [...]
January 4th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
[...] Phoenix in winter [...]
January 7th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
Rest in Peace old friend. So long and thanks for all the pix.
January 7th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
Thank you so very much for this. I was one who had personally asked for this to be taken.
This was four Sols prior to the Northern Martian Autumn Equinox.
Sun sets from Monday 6th April 2009 to Monday 6th July 2009 inclusive from Phoenix’s site. In Winter & up to just past the Spring Equinox, Phoenix is expected to be totally encased in ice.
I second Pat’s comment & will add, Phoenix you did us proud (I was personally part of the campaign to prevent Phoenix’s cancellation, what was the then Mars Surveyor 2001 Lander & I’m British, not American) & we are immensely indebted to you.
Sleep the sleep of heroes Phoenix.
Thank you also to the HiRISE team for taking the time & trouble of making this observation. I am for one greatly impressed & pleased.
Andrew Brown 3488.
January 8th, 2009 at 11:09 am
Great minds think alike, Andrew! Monitoring of the Phoenix landing site has been the idea from the start, and fortunately our planning tools let us revisit sites of interest when just the right viewing opportunity becomes available again.
January 9th, 2009 at 7:59 am
Will there be any attempt to reestablish communication with Phoenix once the ice melts? I understand the chances would be miniscule, but the opportunity to see ice melt in the Martian arctic might be worth the try…
January 9th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
HI Chris,
I don’t know for certain what they’ll do, but I’m sure the Phoenix team will want to try to communicate with the lander again in the Martian spring, even if as you say, the chances of getting a response are very small.
Regardless, we’ll continue to monitor arctic seasonal changes from orbit. Most of the ice on Mars usually sublimates (goes directly from solid to gas), so we probably won’t see any ice melting, exactly.
But we do see drastic changes from one image to the next in the amount of frost and ice in polar regions. You can see a lot of images relevant to these process in the Seasonal or Polar Geology themes: http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/science_themes/themes.php
January 14th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
I’ve read the site and looked at pictures daily. Phoneix and team, thanks for taking us on the trip with you. It’s been a GREAT RIDE.
January 15th, 2009 at 2:54 am
Just a thought…
Having 35 years experience in RF communications and being an avid ham radio operator working vintage equipment in cold country Canada that is over 30+ years old in -35c weather… maybe, just maybe, we’ll receive a signal from Phoenix when spring comes and the solar panels get enough light to power the Lander and it’s electronics. What I’m saying is… and this is just a maybe, that even though it’s very cold on Mars, when enough power is generated with the solar panels, the electronics might pop back to lift. The batteries may not hold a charge, but the solar panels might generate enough power to run the Comms and maybe even the weather station. Who knows for sure really what will happen when the days grow long on Mars and the Phoenix lands gets a chance at a second life!? Here’s hoping for the best from Canada!
January 15th, 2009 at 11:01 am
I know the chances of Phoenix rising is small. I wonder, roughly when will the sun be high enough for the panels to get enough power to test communications after the winter? And how soon after that will we get an update if it worked?
January 17th, 2009 at 6:50 am
Hi Ash,
November 2009 t the VERY EARLIEST. The Northern Spring Equinox is on: Tuesday 29th October 2009, but Phoenix is expected to still be encased in CO2 ice then, perhaps emerging in November or December of this year.
The Sun fails to rise at all from 5th April to 6th July this year (though the sun is only about four degrees below the southern horizon at noon, so there will be very bright twilight for a few hours each sol), with the potential of Phoenix being entombed in ice from February to November of this year.
I suspect Phoenix is done for, it’s not just lack of sunlight being an issue, also electrical circuitry shrinking & cracking, Phoenix herself potentially twisting, solar panels being snapped off, etc whilst entombed in the CO2 ice (still quite heavy under Mars’s 37.7% surface gravity).
I really hope Phoenix does awaken & hopefully before the ice completely goes in late Spring. Will be interesting to see if any of the smaller rocks have been moved by the ice??
Also HiRISE can see if the parachute gets torn or moved.
It is great that HiRISE is keeping an eye on this site when well placed. Just a thought, is HiRISE sensitive enough to image the Phoenix site in twilight?
Andrew Brown.
January 18th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
Don’t count the old girl out yet. Something tells me she will be up and running when the sun comes back…Just ask her Rover sisters… Five years and still ticking. As Roise from the Jetson’s use to say “I swear on my Mothers rechargeable battery”! You go girl!
January 18th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
nice pictures,but would you mind making taking a little time to look for the mars polar lander
January 19th, 2009 at 10:53 am
Hi Frank,
There has already been a massive effort by the HiRISE team to locate Mars Polar Lander.
Try: http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/HiBlog/?p=134
Or go back in the HiBlog to May 2008, four screens back from this one.
Hi JB,
I really hope you’re correct. I fear though that due to Phoenix’s far northern latitude & far more seasonal extremes (remember both MERs are situated just south of the Equator & north of the Tropic of Aquarius, Mars’s southern tropic).
Andrew Brown 3488.
January 19th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
i just cant figure it out. i give it a lot of thought. no heat shield, no backshell, no parachute. i know its old news, even if the polar lander crashed you would think we could see something. i guess i just need to move on. frank
January 25th, 2009 at 10:21 am
I have logged on to the Phoenix web site almost daily from day one & have enjoyed the detailed & interesting descriptions & photos of this important & very successul program. Thank you team.
January 28th, 2009 at 11:00 pm
After reading your post I have started to log on to the Phoenix site on daily basis. Its amazing. Thank you so much.
January 31st, 2009 at 2:16 pm
31–ene–09
Hermosas imagenes, soy un aficionado a la astronomia, entiendo pocas palabras en (english) pero trato de arreglarmelas
saludos a los reponsables de su web desde el centro de la ARGENTINA.
THANK YOU SO MUCH
February 3rd, 2009 at 6:37 pm
Kite, thank you very much for the response. It would certainly be exciting if we could get a few more images from Phoenix as Spring kicks in.
February 3rd, 2009 at 11:02 pm
Few days back, I read your article. In the true sense, it inspired me to log on to the Phoenix site on regular basis. I must say that these Phoenix sites are amazing. Thanks.
February 5th, 2009 at 5:55 am
Just reading through this again, The Tropic of Aquarius is Mars’s Northern Tropic, the southern one is Tropic of Virgo. Sorry for the mistake.
Anyway, for those who are not sure, Phoenix is expected to be encased in CO2 ice from approximately now till mid November, just past the Northern Martian Spring Equinox. However we do not know if this has even started yet.
The Sunday 21st December 2008 observation was very interesting as there appeared to be no ice on the ground around Phoenix at that time, so that’s what now, seven weeks ago this coming Sunday. The parachute also appeared to have folded in on itself in the winds.
All this is well worth monitoring for sure.
Also for those interested, today Thursday 5th February 2009, the Sun rose at the Mars Phoenix Lander site @ 10:23 HRS UTC & will set @ 19:05 HRS UTC, so already daylight has been reduced to 8 hours & 42 minutes. At 14:44 HRS UTC the Sun culminated at Midsol only 11 degrees above the horizon.
Andrew Brown.