Schuele Planetarium Director and NASA Speaker's Bureau Representative Jay Reynolds reports that it's official! After 5 1/2 months of operation, Mars Phoenix Lander has stopped communicating with controllers on Earth.
Landing May 25th, on the edge of the Mars Northern Polar Ice Cap (the equivalent of Northern Alaska), this lander not only sent photos, but had a weather station and geology labs. Final results will be long coming, but safe to say, this area of Mars once was wetter, currently has water ice and the local soil has favorable chemistry for life to grab a foot hold. Here's the AP report.
Jay always shares the latest, cutting edge space science news and photos at all of our planetarium programs, so check out the schedule of public star shows and stop by.
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