Perhaps Mars Phoenix has been the most media savvy Mars lander ever. Throughout the mission, Phoenix has been twittering to interested subscribers about the day to day goings on during its time on the “red planet. So successful has been this venture that the lander won a “Twitties” award as the Smartest tweet. Other missions are now following in Phoenix’s tracks (OK, Phoenix has no tracks but that shouldn’t stop the puns), such as Cassini and the Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity.
Phoenix has arguably been one of the most successful missions to Mars ever. It has far exceeded its original goal of operation for 90 days (Martian days that is). But as the environment on Mars steadily gets colder, the lander will spend more of it’s precious energy keeping its instruments warm. Well before the 3 month period next April when the sun will not riseat the poles on Mars, it will fall silent and the world will miss its day to day escapades.
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