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Thursday, October 28, 2010

Photo: Mars Lander Presumed Dead, Despite "Lazarus Mode"


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NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander uses its meteorological station and its robotic arm at the same time in this artist's concept of the spacecraft on the surface of Mars.

The dark "wings" to either side of the lander's main body are solar panels for providing electric power. Due to a lack of sunlight and freezing temperatures, the lander has ceased sending information back to Earth and is presumed dead following a successful five-month mission, NASA announced November 11, 2008.

Illustration courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech/UA/Lockheed Martin