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NASA is using their Mars Odyssey orbiter to see if the Phoenix Mars Lander has woken up after, but so far they haven’t heard anything. The Phoenix Mars Lander, made out of unused parts from other projects, landed on Mars in May of 2008 and dug for ice for about five months. It became the first machine to touch water on another planet when it discovered ice. Then, the Martian winter came and the temperatures were too cold for the Phoenix to operate. Now, the long winter is over. It is about mid- spring on Mars, (the seasons there last about twice as long as the seasons on Earth last) and NASA is hoping that the Phoenix will send out beeps to the Mars Odyssey when it flies over its location. Although they don’t think it survived the cold winter, they are hoping that the sun will warm it up and that next time they fly over it in a month, it will respond to their call. There is almost no chance that the Phoenix survived the temperatures of about 195 below zero degrees Fahrenheit temperatures during Mars’ long winter. They did make a “Lazarus” mode for it to signal the Mars Odyssey. Read the article here.

During its five months on Mars, it had three main questions to answer: (1) can the Martian arctic support life, (2) what is the history of water at the landing site, and (3) how is the Martian climate affected by polar dynamics? These answers are important because they give us insight into our universe and will tell us if it is possible to sustain life on Mars. By going here, you can read more about the mission.  Although the temperatures this past winter on Mars were probably too much for the Phoenix, the Phoenix might rise again, just don’t get your hopes up.

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