<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'><font size="1" color="#ff0000">That makes sense. I figured it might have been because it was landing in an area that doesn't get a lot of sun, which would have made it difficult to power the vehicle. How long is the Phoenix lander suppose to last once, and if, it successfully touches down? <br />Posted by brandbll</font></DIV></p><p><font size="2" color="#333300"><strong>Centsworth_II is correct. Phoenix is the same spacecraft that had been mothballed the 2001 Mars Surveyor.</strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#333300"><strong>Mars Surveyor 2001 was due to have launched on Tuesday 3rd April 2001 & land on Mars on: Sunday 27th January 2002.</strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#333300"><strong>Link below, to potential Mars 2001 landing sites.</strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#333300"><strong> </strong></font>
<font size="2" color="#000080"><strong>http://web99.arc.nasa.gov/~vgulick/MSLS99_Wkshp/Barlow_Highland_abs.pdf</strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#333300"><strong>This mission was cancelled following the double fiasco with Mars Climate Orbiter & the Mars Polar Lander failures.</strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#333300"><strong>The former Mars 2001 Surveyor spacecraft has been completely refurbished, reprogrammed & alterations made to make a high latitude landing possible & has since gone through the mother of all pre-launch testing as well as a rigourous testing regime on route.<br /></strong></font><br /><font size="2" color="#333300"><strong>After landing, Phoenix is expected to have a 90 Sol primary mission. Phoenix lands in the very late Martian northern Spring. The Summer Solstice at the site is only three days after that on Earth (24th June verses 21st June). The end of the primary mission will end at our equivalent of early August, when the Sun will be getting lower & setting for longer. </strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#333300"><strong>As the start of the primary mission, Phoenix will be under constant 24/7 sunlight, the Martian Midnight Sun will be visible here, hopefully some movies will be made of the Martian Midnight Sun swooping low over the northern horizon @ midnight.</strong></font></p><p><strong><font size="2" color="#333300">The mission could well last considerably longer, dependent on local weather. I hope Phoenix will last pass the Autumn Equinox, when the very first CO2 frost may start appearing.</font></strong></p><p><strong><font size="2" color="#333300">Phoenix WILL NOT survive the Winter. Firstly the Sun will not rise (though there will be bright twilight as the Sun approaches 2 degrees below the southern horizon at midday on the Winter Solstice), but also, there is likely to be a layer approx 2 metres deep of frozen CO2</font></strong> <font size="2" color="#333300"><strong>& temperatures approaching minus 140 Celsius.</strong></font> </p><p><font size="2" color="#333300"><strong>The lowest temperature survived on the Martian surface thus far is minus 117 Celsius by Viking 2 in May 1978, from the site in Utopia Planitia, but Viking 2 was RTG powered. </strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#333300"><strong>Whether or not Pheonix will surpass that remains unknown, though I suspect due to the northerly latitude Phoenix has been designed for that & colder.</strong></font></p><p><strong><font size="2" color="#333300">At the warmest time of the Martian northern Summer at the site, the temperature may rise as high as <font color="#ff0000">*</font><font color="#ff0000">minus</font> <font color="#ff0000">20 </font>Celsius, during a heat wave at the landing site, but for much of the time, it will be much colder than that.</font></strong></p><p><strong><font size="2" color="#333300">Below noon on the Mid Winter Solstice @ the Phoenix site on: Friday 22nd May 2009.</font></strong></p><p>
<img id="ipb-attach-img-8955-0-17204900-1206820033" style="cursorointer" class="ipb" src="http://thespaceport.us/forum/uploads/monthly_03_2008/post-774-1206802836_thumb.png" alt="Attached Image" title="Click to view full image" width="500" height="375" /></p><p><font size="2"><font color="#ff0000"><strong>*</strong></font> <strong><font color="#ff0000">Edited as exoscientist / Bob Clark pointed out a minor error & I have corrected it.</font></strong></font></p><p>
http://www.thespaceport.us/forum/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=8954</p><p><strong><font size="2" color="#333300">Andrew Brown.</font></strong></p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p>
<font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br />
<font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p>
<font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>