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57 Comments
- GoatRoper, on 10/30/2008, -0/+59If this is it Phoenix, thank you
- Paulorific, on 11/01/2008, -1/+30How cool would it be if it turns back on when winter is over? :)
- Rivetgeek, on 11/01/2008, -0/+21- Daisy Daaaaaisyyyyyyyyy..........
- WELLDOITLIVE, on 11/01/2008, -0/+21I feel sad, but it still outdid it's planned 3 month term.
Picture Wall-E with it's sad face. Yea I'm lame. - inactive, on 10/31/2008, -1/+18I wonder what'll happen to the Twitter feed.
- m4csrgh3yk3v, on 11/01/2008, -0/+16Goodnight sweet prince.
- atbnet, on 10/31/2008, -1/+14Maybe they can send Spirit or Opportunity to save it. Those don't seem like they are ever going to quit. Either way it fulfilled its mission and anything extra is great.
- PhoenixAvatar2, on 11/01/2008, -0/+12The space program is never a waste of money. It inspires students to learn and to expand their horizons and it'll enable humanity to evolve further.
- skin, on 11/01/2008, -1/+10Only find proof that there is water on Mars.
- inactive, on 11/01/2008, -0/+9The ability to sit around on mars and send twitters.
- WELLDOITLIVE, on 11/01/2008, -0/+9I like Obama, I love the space program,
but shut the hell up. Feels weird digging a pro-Obama comment down but you aren't helping. - PhoenixAvatar2, on 11/01/2008, -0/+8It's got a Lazarus mode. If it survives undamaged until the spring, the solar cells will recharge enough for it to awaken.
- miatafan, on 11/01/2008, -0/+7Phoenix is a stationary machine.
- defektiv, on 11/01/2008, -1/+7All these rovers are incredible steps forward for us. Every time we do something like this (we as a race of people, I have nothing to do with the program) we lay proven technology into the foundation of technological advancement.
It's exciting to be a part of a time when mankind is extending our reach farther and farther into the great slightly known. - Paulorific, on 11/01/2008, -0/+6The Phoenix team already said they would try it but said they doubt it would work. The air on will get so cold it will freeze everything and, I guess, break it. We'll have to wait and see.
- PhoenixAvatar2, on 11/01/2008, -0/+6Batteries tend to be very large and heavy. It hasn't been running off of batteries all this time, it's been running off of solar power. Now that it's winter and there's less daylight plus less solar energy because the sun is lower there isn't any way to keep it powered on. This thing isn't a sensor, it's an actual robot with moving arms, cameras all over it and self-powered ovens. Any kind of feasible battery could only keep the thing online for hours at most.
And even if there was a way to power it, it's already -140 F at night there and it'll get colder. Electronics can't survive those kinds of temperatures. - PhoenixAvatar2, on 11/01/2008, -0/+5:p nice thought, but they're on the other side of the planet. Damn thing's big you know. Nothing they could do even if they could get there anyways.
- brutimus, on 11/01/2008, -0/+5I can't seem to find where I read it.. but there was an article talking about the very small chances that Phoenix will be able to wake up once the winter is over. The article detailed what temperatures like that of a Martian winter will do to electronics - it's not pretty.
It's currently something like -140F and still has much to drop. Those fluctuations fracture components and make much of the materials used in electronics incredibly brittle. Get bumped by a little wind storm and you're pretty much done. - yaddayaddayoda, on 11/01/2008, -0/+4That weather is also extremely hard on batteries. The batteries have to be heated electrically, from solar panels, in order to not die from the cold. Once they get cold, it wrecks them.
- yaddayaddayoda, on 11/01/2008, -0/+4Good recovery!
- SoundJudgment, on 11/01/2008, -1/+5",,,Come to witness Spring's new hope, born of leaves decaying."
Rest well, soldier. - Wreckage, on 11/01/2008, -1/+5"safe mode" WTF was it running Vista?
Either way it's cool the science these people do. - sharkd, on 11/01/2008, -0/+3Winter on Mars is more than five (Earth) months long. It's doubtful that the batteries will last that long with an insufficient charge.
- Paulorific, on 11/01/2008, -0/+3There has been ***** on Mars for a long time.
- Railz, on 11/01/2008, -0/+3Spirit and Opportunity will still be there when Humans first step on mars. They'll be sitting around a rock playing poker, just chilling, using the Phoenix Rover as a fridge.
- PhoenixAvatar2, on 11/01/2008, -1/+4That there was water on mars? No, it wasn't obvious at all. There were hints, but no actual confirmation until now.
- tweehopper, on 11/01/2008, -0/+3=(
- Annibal, on 11/01/2008, -0/+3Meeeeeeeeediiiiiiiiiiiic
- inactive, on 11/01/2008, -0/+2I bet NASA will try that. They got nothing to lose to try to see if it will work. I don't see how it wouldn't work if Phoenix doesn't get destroyed by a bad dust storm.
- fwdkfwdkfwdk, on 11/01/2008, -0/+2R.I.P.
- TheGuruStud, on 11/01/2008, -0/+2They should have used those radioactive generators (I'm brain dead right now) like on the voyager crafts. I know size would be a problem, but don't you think it could be shrunk down. I mean, at least one voyager is still transmitting!
- inactive, on 11/01/2008, -1/+3So cheesy..
- inactive, on 11/01/2008, -0/+2That is too bad, though it is great that it survived as long as it did. They sent it there with only a few months months in mind, and it was able to scoot around for a few years. Hopefully the data it delivered will in some way enable us able to go there ourselves and retrieve it :)
- Baredogg, on 11/01/2008, -0/+2It's still amazes me how we can collect data from something so far away. It's amazing what technology can accomplish. Missions like these really make human invention and exploration shine.
- adoggz, on 11/02/2008, -0/+2damn straight it was running vista, if they'd put xp on it it wouldn't have even lasted the 3 months. :p
- SemiSarcastic, on 11/01/2008, -0/+2I say the US and China should send their own NEWER rovers to Mars, have both equipped with saws and lasers and have them duke it out for control of the planet. Whoever wins gets Mars.
- warriorscot, on 11/01/2008, -0/+2Pheonix was exploring the poles if Spirit or Opportunity went that for to the poles the exact same thing would happen to them.
- estee0703, on 11/01/2008, -0/+2i thought that phoenix was supposed to clock out a long time ago
either way its been awesome - Z3r0t0l0rEnCe, on 11/01/2008, -0/+2I still can't believe that it lasted this long. Props to NASA and the designers for creating a master machine.
- vivvivtzz, on 11/01/2008, -3/+4that was obvious.
- gordonf238, on 11/01/2008, -0/+1And yet those two rovers keep on going, and going and going, even after more than 4 years. I swear, had they been powered by Energizer batteries, the company would have had bragging rights for life.
- monkeybus, on 11/01/2008, -0/+1But there IS sunlight, Even THOUSANDS of miles Further away from the sun, than we are!, it has managed to keep going for a long time. on pure SOLAR, I think There is a lot we can learn from this.
A Multi Billion Dollar Solar Farm on the Moon you say...... - Picard102, on 11/01/2008, -1/+2[Insert joke about iPhone battery life]
- monkeybus, on 11/01/2008, -0/+1Ask, NASA, they dont mind. Or Google it, i Saw it on a Program, On discovery.
The batteries on the Moon rover, used parrafin blocks that melted Using the Heat generated from the circuits or some crap, or the other wayy round....I dont know... - starmanjones, on 11/04/2008, -0/+1i love it when our little 'bots turnout to be tough little 'bots. i'm planning a party for the martian spring because i think its going to survive and s/he will wake up and phone home with pictures of the spring. :)
- monkeybus, on 11/01/2008, -0/+1Look at the LEGS/ARMS of the Rover, Ther is either Bacterial growth or Frost from an evaporated gas/liquid that has frozen on to the legs.
The scientist apparently are unsure of what it is, but if you look at the Photos that are Timestamped, you will see growth, rather quickly.
maybe someone Smarter like Phage/internos/or anyone else can explain it better. - Hodor, on 11/01/2008, -1/+2how did it get to mars then? were they warming the batteries the whole way?
- monkeybus, on 11/01/2008, -1/+1Your 'Dead' Batteries thrown into the Draw, Still Have power int them, and this will and does Store For Years. Ever wondered How 100% dead ones Come back to life? Thats a differant story, But it Happens.
This is not the end of nasa's Mission to mars, Just the Publics. - KelticKal, on 11/02/2008, -0/+0Sorry but Phoenix is not a rover since it has no means to move to another location unlike Spirit and Opportunity.
- DifferentAngle, on 11/01/2008, -1/+1I doubt electronics will crack due to the cold... but batteries? How do those hold up?
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