Mission engineers at NASA’S Jet Propulsion Laboratory are looking for ways to conserve power onboard the Phoenix Mars Lander. The spacecraft has far surpassed it’s lifetime expectancy by lasting into a fifth month of functionality. It was only scheduled to last for three months after landing in the Martian polar region.
As autumn weather conditions deteriorate and temperatures fall, the Phoenix Mars Lander uses more power than it generates, so it’s only a matter of time before the robot explorer will expire. It’s a real tribute to the engineering teams how well this spacecraft has exceeded it’s intended capacity for scientific exploration.
It’s no wonder the lander is starting to shut down. The weather conditions on planet Mars in the northern hemisphere are pretty fierce, and getting more extreme as the planet shifts into it’s autumn phase. Huge dust storms and atmospheric ice clouds block out sunlight to solar panels that generate power to spacecraft. Extreme temperatures range from -141 degrees (F) overnight to -50 degrees (F) during the day.
NASA The Latest from Mars www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mars