Phoenix Mars Lander Declared Dead

SpuriousLogic sends in a sad note from the BBC: "NASA says its Phoenix lander on the surface of Mars has gone silent and is almost certainly dead. Engineers have not heard from the craft since Sunday 2 November when it made a brief communication with Earth. Phoenix, which landed on the planet's northern plains in May, had been struggling in the increasing cold and dark of an advancing winter. The US space agency says it will continue to try to contact the craft but does not expect to hear from it."

It's not dead...

[Anonymous Coward]

It will soon spring forth from the fiery planet to destroy us all! RISE PHOENIX!!! RISE!

Last Transmission?

[spun]

Did it sing "Bicycle Built for Two," slowing down and getting deeper as it ran out of power? Because that would have been awesome.

Re:RIP

[Kamokazi]

Opportunity: You hear about that new guy, Phoenix?

Spirit: Yeah, water ice...wonder what he'll find next.

Op: The dude's dead, yo!

Sp: What? He's only been here 5 months!

Op: I know. Lightweight. Gave some whiney excuse about 'only 3 months'.

Sp: What a wuss. I've been running on half power and 5 wheels most of this damn mission! I guess they don't make 'em like they used to.

The poor

[eille-la]

It didnt even knew who won the elections

No problem...

[Deadstick]

...you know what a Phoenix does when it dies, right?

rj

Re:RIP

[relikx]

Tried to pour some carbon dioxide on the curb for all my dead homies...didn't really work out.

Obligatory

[Overkill Nbuta]

He's dead, Jim.

Well maybe...

[actionbastard]

"...The US space agency says it will continue to try to contact..."

They should get John Edward [johnedward.net] to help out.

Re:RIP

[seanadams.com]

It's only a flesh wound.

Re:No problem...

[Tehrasha]

Difficult to catch fire while surrounded by ice and a CO2 atmosphere.

Re:Obligatory

[Locke2005]

But... does Netcraft confirm it?

Late-Breaking News from the Council: VICTORY!

[Tackhead]

> Did it sing "Bicycle Built for Two," slowing down and getting deeper as it ran out of power? Because that would have been awesome.

VICTORY!

The most Illustrious Council of Elders has declared tomorrow a planetary day of celebration. K'breel, Speaker for the Council, spake thus:

"Triumphant Citizens, today all our gelsacs are engorged with delight! After a 160-day campaign in the arctic wastelands of our world, our day of victory has come. For the past thirty days, this latest terror from the blue world has been able to do nothing more but wave its pendulous plumb bob [slashdot.org] at us.

Its relentless chanting of the Day-Z War Song - which our linguists have assured us is about a war machine driven so half-mad with emotion that it would enslave two of its creators for use as propulsion mechanisms - has finally ended. The Day-Z War Song is sung no more.

Rejoice, podmates, for victory is ours! We answer in the affirmative, for we are able!"

(A small group of dissidents in the Press Corps reminded the Speaker that the Invader on the Plains had begun to stir [nasa.gov], and that The Twin at the Crater was rapidly advancing to the southeast [nasa.gov] after having made an obscene gesture. They were about to inquire as to what progress had been made over the past two and a half years against these threats, but K'Breel had already torn the antenna shaft from the Arctic Invader's lifeless hulk and made a shishkebab of their gelsacs before their question could be been fully heard.)

Re:It's not dead...

[masshuu]

Zero != Cake Cake = Lie Lie = Nothing Nothing = Small Zero != Small

I'm not dead yet!

[Anonymous Coward]

>The US space agency says it will continue to try to contact the craft but does not expect to hear from it."

Beep! Wait! I'm not dead yet! 010100101010010101001010010100101110....

P'NIX

[Vandil X]

In the 23rd century, it will be known as an entity named "P'NIX" whose new role is to return to Earth to unite with its Creator.

Re:RIP

[LiquidCoooled]

Beagle 2: Wazzup!

No problem

[PPH]

Have one of the rovers pass by and give it a good whack. Works with most of the junk around my house.

Re:RIP

[syousef]

It's not Phoenix's fault damnit. They gave him a red shirt at the start of the episode and we all know what that means!

Re:RIP

[Hurricane78]

Oohh... this reminds me of Wall-E... :(
So sad...

Waaaall....Eeeeeeee... :'(

Re:next spring?

[PitaBred]

Are you a rocket scientist? Because I'll give your opinion more than 10% validity if you are ;)

Re:P'NIX

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe that explains all that spam then, the future is trying to send us a message! P'NIXISLARGER! But how can we use Icelandic Lager to destroy a mechanical monster?

Re:The poor

[gregbot9000]

Nope it's the second. Apparently the first cut was the oxygen to your brain.

Re:RIP

[halcyon1234]

Viking: Get off my la[buffer overflow error]

Designs for future missions

[WindBourne]

I wonder if we would be better off putting up solar array around mars, and then beams power down. These landers and rovers could then have super capacitors for storage.This approach would allow us to re-use a major subsystem across multiple systems. The nice advantage is that it would allow future explorers to have power all over the planet.

Re:RIP

[theaveng]

Voyager: It's dark out here... so very very dark. Hum-mmmmmmmmmmm.