Science and Health
No signal from Phoenix Mars Lander: NASA's JPL
(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-04-14 10:52
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LOS ANGELES - Mars Odyssey orbiter heard no signal from the Phoenix Mars Lander when it listened from orbit while passing over Phoenix 60 times last week, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) said Tuesday.
"In the unlikely event that Phoenix had survived the harsh Martian arctic winter and been able to achieve a power-positive state with the return of continuous sunshine, there is a very high likelihood that one or more of these 60 overflights would have overlapped with a transmission attempt by the lander," said Chad Edwards, chief telecommunications engineer for the Mars Exploration Program at JPL, which is headquartered in Pasadena, California.
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The third campaign to listen to signals from Phoenix lasted from April 5 through April 9, the JPL said in a news release.
During the period, the sun stayed above the horizon continuously at the arctic site where Phoenix completed its mission in 2008.
Odyssey had also listened for a signal from Phoenix during periods in January and February, but received no signal from the solar-powered lander.
The Phoenix Mars Lander showed no sign during February that it has revived after the northern Mars winter.
The solar-powered Phoenix lander operated for two months longer than its planned three-month mission in the Martian arctic in 2008. It was not designed to withstand winter conditions. However, the return of abundant springtime sunlight to the site might revive Phoenix.
Phoenix successfully landed in the northern Martian polar regions on May 25, 2008. During over five months of operations on top of the Martian arctic plains, the lander made breakthrough scientific discoveries by finding patches of water and nutrients that could possibly sustain past or current Martian life forms, if they exist.
