Phoenix Lander Races the Coming Martian Winter

TUCSON, Ariz. - Three months after its flawless landing near the Martian north pole, NASA's Phoenix lander is in a race with the seasons: the sun is sinking, the first dust storms are coming, and within weeks the lander will freeze for good.

Phoenix confirmed in July that the hard crust beneath its footpads is water ice — the first time a spacecraft has touched water on another world. Its ovens have since baked soil samples and detected perchlorate, a chemical that complicates but does not rule out the possibility of past habitability.

The lander's camera has watched dust devils cross the plains and measured snow falling from Martian clouds — vaporizing before it reaches the ground.

The mission was designed for 90 days and has now exceeded it. Controllers are husbanding power as the polar night approaches; by November the lander will be entombed in carbon-dioxide frost.

"Every day now is a gift," the mission's principal investigator said. "The science is done; what we get from here is dessert."

___

Associated Press writers contributed to this report.

RECOMMEND THIS STORY