NASA Declares Mars Lander Dead

NASA's long-dormant Phoenix Mars Lander is broken and officially down for the count, with new images taken by an orbiting probe showing severe damage to the spacecraft's solar panels due to the harsh Martian winter.

Repeated attempts by NASA in recent months to reestablish contact with Phoenix following its winter hibernation were unsuccessful, with no peeps coming from the lander.

The new photos of Phoenix, sent by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, indicate that the lander has suffered severe ice damage to at least one of its solar panels, NASA officials said Monday.

Phoenix touched down in the arctic plains of Vastitas Borealis in Mars' northern hemisphere on May 25, 2008 and spent several months digging up the Martian soil, confirming the presence of water ice beneath the surface.
[link to www.space.com]