Two images of the Phoenix Mars lander taken from Martian orbit in 2008 and 2010. The 2008 lander image (left) shows two relatively blue spots on either side corresponding to the spacecraft's clean circular solar panels. In the 2010 (right) image scientists see a dark shadow that could be the lander body and eastern solar panel, but no shadow from the western solar panel. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

The caption on the image is right from the Phoenix site.  Here’s my question:  Could the super cold combined with the weight of the frozen out carbon dioxide really cause it to break? The article suggest hundreds of pounds of ice could have accumulated on the lander during the winter.  Seems like a lot of build up, they’re the experts.

Oh well, fun to think about if nothing else.  The outcome is the same and we all sort of knew it would end this way.  After all the little lander wasn’t designed to last a Martian winter.

The Phoenix lander is now pretty much a monument to the exploration efforts from another planet. Click the image for a larger version.

Here’s the press release at the Phoenix site.