Flight of the Phoenix

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November 2008
- Mars Lander Falls Silent
  
  NASA | Nov 10, 08 5:11 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - The Martian autumn has cut power to NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander, ending its mission of scientific discovery, NASA reports. As anticipated, shorter days and increasingly overcast skies are preventing sufficient solar energy from reaching the lander’s power cells. It has already collected data for 2 months longer than its originally planned 90-day mission, yielding information crucial to understanding Mars’ environment. More »
August 2008
- Mission Accomplished on Mars
  
  Wired | Aug 29, 08 5:32 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Time's almost up for NASA's Mars Phoenix Lander: With its 90-day mission complete, the $480 million project will continue testing soil samples until the punishing winter puts it out of commission. Wired recaps Phoenix triumphs with an interactive timeline, from its flawless landing at Mars' north pole to its groundbreaking analysis of Martian ice and water. More »
- Mars Toxin Dims Hopes for Red Planet Life
  
  Space.com | Aug 5, 08 8:55 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Phoenix lander has found a toxin in Mars soil that considerably decreases the odds of finding Martian life, Science.com reports. The chemical, perchlorate, is a harsh oxidizing agent often used in solid rocket fuel, so researchers are double checking to ensure it wasn’t carried from Earth. The results are especially surprising because Sunday’s tests revealed no sign of perchlorate. More »
- NASA Briefs White House on Possible Martian Life
  
  Aviation Week | Aug 2, 08 3:23 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - NASA has briefed the White House on its plan to announce a new finding on the "potential for life" on Mars, Aviation Week reports. NASA has no evidence that the red planet has harbored life, but new Phoenix lander discoveries suggest it is possible—a finding that Phoenix officials call far more “provocative” than the mere presence of water. More »
July 2008
- NASA Lander Confirms Water on Mars
  
  Associated Press | Jul 31, 08 8:50 PM CDT
  
  (AP) - The Phoenix spacecraft has tasted Martian water for the first time. By melting icy soil in one of its lab instruments, the robot confirmed the presence of frozen water lurking below the Martian permafrost. Until now, evidence of ice in Mars' north pole region has been largely circumstantial. Scientists popped open champagne today when they received confirmation. More »
- Sticky Soil Foils Mars Work
  
  Space.com | Jul 28, 08 8:19 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - NASA is revising its soil-harvesting method because the Phoenix Mars lander is having trouble with its icy finds, Space.com reports. The lander’s attempts to analyze the soil have been troubled because the soil is sticking to its scoop, stubbornly refusing to fall into the tiny oven designed to melt and study it. Next time, the scoop will dig less and vibrate more. NASA is studying the soil to see whether it could have ever supported life. More »
- AFP: New data reveals the wet and balmy past of Mars
  
  AFP | Jul 16, 08
  
  Water bathed the surface of southern Mars for millions of years, helping to create an environment theoretically capable of nurturing life, according to a new study into the planet's mysterious oceans.
- AFP: Phoenix scientists soon will analyze Martian ice
  
  AFP | Jul 3, 08
  
  Scientists with the US Phoenix lander will make their first analysis of Martian ice fragments in coming days but it could be the last done in one of the probe's small ovens, NASA said on its website Friday.
June 2008
- 'You Might Be Able to Grow Asparagus' on Mars
  
  Reuters | Jun 26, 08 4:47 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Samples of Martian soil analyzed by instruments onboard the Phoenix lander have earth-bound scientists “flabbergasted.” Why? Readings indicate that the extraterrestrial loam could, perhaps has, and possibly will, support life, Reuters reports. Along with ice the lander discovered earlier, “We basically have found what appears to be the requirements, the nutrients, to support life,” a scientist said. More »
- Scientists Hail Ice Find on Mars
  
  Wired | Jun 20, 08 4:49 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - White material on Mars that was puzzling NASA scientists has turned out to be ice, Wired reports. "Are you ready to celebrate? We have ICE! Best day ever!" gushed a team scientist. The discovery of evidence of water—essential for terrestrial life—is exactly what scientists were hoping to find on Mars. More »
- Computer Woes Slow Mars Craft
  
  Associated Press | Jun 19, 08 3:16 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Phoenix Mars Lander stopped digging yesterday to give its memory a rest after a computer glitch caused the loss of photographs and scientific data, the AP reports. Scientists were alerted to the problem after the lander transmitted a single piece of information 45,000 times. "It's unfortunate to lose any bit of science," one scientist said. "But it's not really critical stuff that you kick yourself over." More »
- Mars Lander Finds Ice... or Salt
  
  Associated Press | Jun 17, 08 1:20 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Phoenix Mars lander has found… well, something. While digging a pair of trenches on the Red Planet’s North Pole, the little robot sent back images of soil streaked with something white. Now scientists are wondering whether it’s the ice they’d hoped for, a salt deposit, or something else. If it’s ice, scientists expect it to transform from liquid to gas when the sun touches it. More »
- Shake 'N Bake: Unclogged Phoenix Ovens Ready
  
  Los Angeles Times | Jun 12, 08 7:26 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Scientists were cheering yesterday after a tricky operation succeeded in shaking Martian dirt into the Phoenix lander's oven, the Los Angeles Times . The spacecraft will now spend the next few weeks heating up soil samples and analyzing gases. Scientists hope the tests and photos being sent back today will help them understand why the planet's strange, clumpy soil is so different from what they expected. More »
- Phoenix lander 'talks' to Twitterers
  
  New York Times | Jun 12, 08
  
  Follow the Mars Lander by checking in on its Twitter feed, charmingly written in the first person.
- Clumpy Soil on Mars Tests Scientists' Skill
  
  San Francisco Chronicle | Jun 10, 08 3:37 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The soil on Mars turns out to be too clumpy to be analyzed by the Phoenix lander, but scientists are confident they've found away around the problem by "dribbling" it small amounts on sifters. They won't know for sure whether the new technique works for a day or two, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. More »
- Stowaway Molecules Could Taint Mars Results
  
  LiveScience | Jun 5, 08 4:10 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Missions searching for signs of life on Mars could be fooled by organic molecules that hitched a ride from Earth, a new study suggests. University of Florida researchers using simulated Martian conditions found that ATP, an energy-storing molecule fundamental to terrestrial life, could survive the trip and hang around for months or years on NASA equipment, LiveScience reports. More »
- Phoenix Samples Martian Dirt
  
  Arizona Republic (Phoenix) | Jun 2, 08 5:41 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Phoenix Mars Lander grabbed a small sample of the fine soil of the planet's polar region yesterday. It was only a test "dig and dump"—using the spacecraft's 8-foot-long robotic arm—but paves the way for retrieving and analyzing samples of Martian soil later this week, reports the Arizona Republic . More »
May 2008
- On Mars, 'Something That Looks Like Ice'
  
  Space.com | May 31, 08 7:53 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Phoenix probe sent home photos today of what looks like ice just under Mars' rocky surface, Space.com reports. "The thrusters have excavated two to six inches and, sure enough, we see something that looks like ice,” one mission scientist said. NASA picked the landing spot, in the planet's northern arctic, because it likely hid ice under a thin layer of soil. More »
- NASA Deploys Mars Probe's Robotic Arm
  
  Associated Press | May 29, 08 1:00 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - NASA’s Phoenix Mars lander extended its robotic arm for the first time late last night, the AP reports, a day late because of a temporary radio blackout. The arm, which will unfurl over a 2-day period, will eventually be used to take samples of ice below the surface in Mars’ arctic regions to search for evidence of life. More »
- Martian Arctic Says Cheese
  
  CNN | May 26, 08 1:39 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Mars Phoenix Lander is sending NASA the first photos of the red planet's northern polar region, CNN reports. On its 3-month mission, the lander will “taste and sniff the northern polar site’s soil and ice,” the agency said. The photos show brown polygons checkering the landscape as far as the eye can see. More »