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Deimos
NASA Teleconference Today about Status of Phoenix Mars Lander

WASHINGTON -- NASA will hold a media teleconference at 4 p.m. EST today, Monday, Nov. 10, to discuss the status of the Phoenix Mars Lander. Phoenix has been operating on the Red Planet for more than five months.

Participants will be:
-- Barry Goldstein, Phoenix project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
-- Peter Smith, Phoenix principal investigator at the University of Arizona in Tucson
-- Doug McCuistion, director of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington

Audio of the teleconference will be streamed live at http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio.
Stu
Conference has started...
DEChengst
Goodbye friend :'(
Stu
"End of mission" declared... no-one has any expectations of Phoenix being heard from again... sad.gif
djellison
Barry :

Sol 151 - had a bit of a problem. Executing the last high power science day. Dust storm on that day (out of the blue). Were expecting Tau of .3. Planned for .5 - it went up to 0.8.

For a few sols it kept communicating.

Became harder for the vehicle to wake up as the dust has hung around.

Nov 5th - was the last time they heard from Phoenix.

At this time pretty convinced the vehicle is no longer available to us.

Declaring an end of mission operations at this time.

Going to keep listening with MODY and MRO - but no one has any expectations of that happening.



mike
Phoenix was a fun mission. And if we hear from it again, it will be that much more exciting. I look forward to seeing the (as of yet!) complete results.
ElkGroveDan
It was the most exciting EDL ever that's for certain.
ugordan
QUOTE (ElkGroveDan @ Nov 10 2008, 10:14 PM) *
It was the most exciting EDL ever that's for certain.

Indeed.

Seems like it was yesterday...
Juramike
(I still have the half-eaten bag of peanuts).
Stu
Yeah, that was a heck of a night, wasn't it? Thank you everyone on the Phoenix team for a wonderful few months!

Looking forward to the science results. Lots of delights and surprises lurking in that data, I'm sure. smile.gif
djellison
Sad topic to start - but it marks the end of a great mission.
Stu
Sad, but inevitable, and everyone involved in the mission should feel very, very proud of what they and their lander achieved during Phoenix's all-too-brief stay on Mars. Thanks to them we saw martian ice glinting in the sunlight, clouds scudding across the sky, dust devils whorling in the distance... so many wonderful memories for us all to look back on in years to come. smile.gif
PDP8E


from my phone via twitter

From Phoenix mission ops: Phoenix is no longer communicating with Earth. We'll continue to listen, but it's likely its mission has ended.

(it is now ~4:27pm Eastern US time, Nov 10, 2008)
Chmee
Anyone have the final / last image that Pheonix took?
punkboi
Farewell, Phoenix. We hardly knew ye.
Enceladus75
RIP Phoenix - you were a great mission. sad.gif

The best is yet to come - the data analysis is really only beginning.
Ken90000
It's better to hear this news from friends than from some strange on Television this evening.

Great Mission!
MahFL
Oh how sad. The fall weather is harsh up there.

sad.gif sad.gif sad.gif sad.gif sad.gif
01101001
I might as well link this here:

JPL Phoenix Mission News: Mars Phoenix Lander Finishes Successful Work on Red Planet (2008 November 10)

QUOTE
NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has ceased communications after operating for more than five months. As anticipated, seasonal decline in sunshine at the robot's arctic landing site is not providing enough sunlight for the solar arrays to collect the power necessary to charge batteries that operate the lander's instruments.

Mission engineers last received a signal from the lander on Nov. 2. Phoenix, in addition to shorter daylight, has encountered a dustier sky, more clouds and colder temperatures as the northern Mars summer approaches autumn. The mission exceeded its planned operational life of three months to conduct and return science data.

The project team will be listening carefully during the next few weeks to hear if Phoenix revives and phones home. However, engineers now believe that is unlikely because of the worsening weather conditions on Mars. [...]
Stu
QUOTE (Chmee @ Nov 10 2008, 09:30 PM) *
Anyone have the final / last image that Pheonix took?


Maybe this... cool.gif
Chmee
QUOTE (Stu @ Nov 10 2008, 04:41 PM) *
Maybe this... cool.gif


Pheonix, don't go towards the light!! Come back to us!
marsophile
At a previous news conference, it was stated that a dozen or so AFM images had been taken. Any chance we could see some of those?
nprev
(Sigh)...well, all good things must come to an end, and Phoenix was a very good thing indeed.

My deepest congratulations to the entire team; superbly done, ladies and gentlemen!
djellison
QUOTE (marsophile @ Nov 10 2008, 09:57 PM) *
Any chance we could see some of those?


I don't know. Why don't you ask them.

All the data will be on the PDS before too long anyway.
elakdawalla
Do you know offhand what the PDS delivery date is?

(I know I can look this up -- busy day)
djellison
From the Archive PLan PDF I've seen - http://pds-geosciences.wustl.edu/missions/...rchive_Plan.pdf

QUOTE
The actual delivery schedule will exceed these requirements: the Phoenix Project will make at least
two deliveries to the PDS, the first one no later than six months after Sol 30 data are received on
Earth, and the second one no later than six months after Sol 90 data are received on Earth. In the
event of an extended mission, subsequent data releases will occur for every 90 sols; for example,
Sol 180 plus six months, then Sol 270 plus six months, with the final delivery occurring no later
than six months after the last data have been received on Earth.


and

QUOTE
~ December 9, 2008 Delivery of data from Sols 1 to 30 to PDS two weeks before first release
~ December 23, 2008 First data release 6 months after sol 30
~ February 8, 2009 Delivery of data from Sols 31 to 90 to PDS two weeks before second release
~ February 22, 2009 Second data release 6 months after sol 90


4 different flavours of AFM data in the plan, including calibrated topographs.
Bjorn Jonsson
This is sad but still I'm happy - this was a great and successful mission that lasted well beyond the nominal 90 day mission. Following the EDL live and then seeing the first images just a few seconds after they were received on Earth was especially memorable.

However: Back in January 2004, who would have thought that at the end of a successful Phoenix mission both of the MERs would still be going strong?
nprev
I was thinking that too, Bjorn.

Engineering, thy name is JPL!!! smile.gif
jamescanvin
Great mission - it's been a fantastic ride over the last few months. Thanks to all involved. Goodbye Phoenix.

QUOTE (Chmee @ Nov 10 2008, 09:30 PM) *
Anyone have the final / last image that Pheonix took?


This unremarkable pair are sitting at the bottom of my MMB directory:

http://www.met.tamu.edu/mars/i/SS151ESF909...5_20973L5M1.jpg
http://www.met.tamu.edu/mars/i/SS151ESF909...5_20973R5M1.jpg
Ant103
Fantastic mission. She has been a true friend on Mars. A great engine of dreams…

Now, she can meet her sisters : Viking 1 & 2, Mars Pathfinder…
TheChemist
Sad sad sad. But looking forward to science results and HiRiSe images of our baby in early 2010. She 'll be there.

PS. Anybody has any idea about the last Twitter message from Phoenix posted 1h ago in binary code ?
The numbers are (if I have done it correctly) 84 114 105 117 109 112 104 <3
Is it some kind of coded message ? (Well duh ?) wink.gif
jamescanvin
And this is a quick go at the last image of the Martian surface taken by Phoenix.
Cugel
its plain decimal ascii.
Fran Ontanaya
QUOTE (TheChemist @ Nov 10 2008, 11:40 PM) *
PS. Anybody has any idea about the last Twitter message


'Triumph' in ASCII. smile.gif
Deimos
QUOTE (jamescanvin @ Nov 10 2008, 11:23 PM) *

These are the last two. Not exactly going out in a blaze of glory... But those are a water vapor band/continuum pair, so Phoenix was following the water to the end.
SpaceListener
I have been following all of his story. Later I did not have doubt that its mission was going very well; before to land on Mars, I had high confidence of its good touchdown. Later, the Phoenix's team did not sleep trying to get the most of precious short time and they were able to exceed all goals.

Hence, the mission of Phoenix was a truly of a great achievement. Congratulations to a good job to Phoenix's team.

The most peculiar things that comes up to my memory from Phoenix are:
  • I was unbelieving to see a so flat surface.
  • His wonderful and unique picture during its landing.
  • Mars also rains but the water never reaches on the surface.
  • The discovery of a pair ices holes on the Phoenix belly:
  • The wind was blowing on the tiny thing.
  • The surface is very similar to Earth (alkaline).
  • The slow sublimation of ice from the surface.

Deimos
QUOTE (Bjorn Jonsson @ Nov 10 2008, 11:13 PM) *
Back in January 2004, who would have thought that at the end of a successful Phoenix mission both of the MERs would still be going strong?

Ssh. Don't jinx anything. We lost Phoenix approximately when expected, and in approximately the expected way. There was just no avoiding the harshness of the environment. With MER, there were those, not optimists but pragmatists, who expected Summer/Fall '05. A few optimists said more. I don't think I heard Fall '08 and beyond smile.gif . Even so, only Opportunity is going strong. Spirit needs help--little recent odometry, minimal recent science, and dusty solar panels choking off power. Or to put it another way: one is still hopefully roving, the other is hopefully still roving.
01101001
Phoenix Project Archive Generation, Validation and Transfer Plan (PDF)

QUOTE
The Phoenix Project Level 1 requirements state that Level 0 and Level 1 imaging data shall be
archived with PDS within six months of the end of the mission, and all other Level 0 and Level 1
data shall be archived within 12 months of the end of the mission [Applicable Document 3]. The
actual delivery schedule will exceed these requirements: the Phoenix Project will make at least
two deliveries to the PDS, the first one no later than six months after Sol 30 data are received on
Earth, and the second one no later than six months after Sol 90 data are received on Earth. In the
event of an extended mission, subsequent data releases will occur for every 90 sols; for example,
Sol 180 plus six months, then Sol 270 plus six months, with the final delivery occurring no later
than six months after the last data have been received on Earth. Table 5 shows the dates for
archive data acquisition and release.


QUOTE
August 23, 2008 Sol 91: Start of extended mission
November 20, 2008 Sol 180
~ December 9, 2008 Delivery of data from Sols 1 to 30 to PDS two weeks before first release
~ December 23, 2008 First data release 6 months after sol 30
~ February 8, 2009 Delivery of data from Sols 31 to 90 to PDS two weeks before second release
~ February 22, 2009 Second data release 6 months after sol 90
TBD Subsequent data releases for every 90 sols through end of mission, with data
delivered to PDS two weeks in advance of release date.
TheChemist
Thanks Cugel and Fran.
I see 3 is fittingly "End of Text". smile.gif
Oersted
QUOTE (jamescanvin @ Nov 10 2008, 11:23 PM) *
This unremarkable pair are sitting at the bottom of my MMB directory:
....
http://www.met.tamu.edu/mars/i/SS151ESF909...5_20973R5M1.jpg


I think that is a quite remarkable last image. I distinctly see the soul of Phoenix shooting lightning-fast into the Martian sky.
imipak
Looking forward, the AGU meeting and the PDS data releases are going to be very interesting. We know how hard a problem it was to get a lander down intact in the polar regions, let alone get an extended mission out of it; the whole team richly deserves a storm of applause as the curtain falls, and they certainly get it from me. And possibly some bouquets of flowers flying over the orchestra pit and cries of "encore!" smile.gif
ustrax
Damn...I've shed a couple of tears for Phoenix,I admit it...seing through the chute photo, the first images...the amazing, thrilling landing day...
Dear Phoenix...you were an amazing embassadress from our planet, sad to imagine you cold, dead on that desert landscape of another planet, far from all those who design and built you and made you fly high above from the craddle...I'll miss you.

We'll soon join there on the Red Planet.

Thank you for your fantastic life!

It was your way!
belleraphon1
Just as parents live on in their children, Phoenix lives on in the data. Who knows that butterflies will come forth from that!?

Goodbye Mayfly..... your data will live on forever. May descendants of your fragile creators find you and touch you some future day.

Craig
Stu
Farewell Phoenix...

Click to view attachment

And everyone really should read this poignant farewell from the lander itself... just superbly written, and very touching... this is how Outreach should be done.
nprev
Touching indeed....(sigh)....

It's sad, but let's never forget the excitement of landing day here on UMSF; it's a fun read now, we were all a bit giddy!
djellison
Now I know what Buzz meant when he said "Neil - we missed the whole thing"

Doug
James Sorenson
I dont know if anyone noticed, but phoenix passed on the same day that MGS passed exactly 2 years ago huh.gif .
nprev
blink.gif ...an odd anniversary indeed, James! Thanks for pointing that out.

Yeah, Doug, forgot you were with Sir Patrick that day live...you still had one of the best seats in the house, though! smile.gif
Reckless
Hi all

Yes it's a sad day but it's been a great mission, from seven minutes of terror (the music still gives me goosebumps) to the last nine days of silence I've kept up with Phoenix on UMSF and elsewhere every day.
Thanks to all here and of course the whole Phoenix team for everything. sad.gif

Roy
bcory
"A moment later Jonathan's body wavered in the air, shimmering, and


began to go transparent. "Don't let them spread silly rumors about me, or


make me a god. O.K., Fletch? I'm a seagull. I like to fly, maybe..."
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