Good Evening Testing,
That's true, as far as I understood it, the intense cold would cause the electronic circuitry to shrink slightly & crack.
Wouldn't the CO2 ice continue to cool to the ambient temperatures of the atmosphere above, to around -140C??
Yes Phoenix continued on with the science mission with the final productive Sol on Sol 151, but communicated intermittently until Sol 157, when she fell silent for good.
As you say, it is still too early to write her off yet. The Sun will continue to climb, with the first midnight Sun on Monday 5th April 2010.
The Northern Martian Summer Solstice will be on Thursday 13th May 2010, if Phoenix is undamaged, we should know before then.
Andrew Brown.