Phoenix (spacecraft) facts for kids

Phoenix was a robotic spacecraft on a space exploration mission on Mars to search water and life there under the Mars Scout Program.It was launched from Florida on 4 Aug 2007 and landed safely on Mars on 25 May 2008.

Mission scientists used instruments aboard the lander to search for environments suitable for microbial life on Mars, and to research the history of water there.

The mission ended on November 10, 2008.

Images for kids

A labeled look at NASA's Phoenix Mars lander.
Phoenix during testing in September 2006
A comparison of sizes for the Sojourner rover, the Mars Exploration Rovers, the Phoenix lander and the Mars Science Laboratory.
Approximate-color photomosaic of cryoturbation polygons due to the Martian permafrost.
Phoenix Mars Lander being worked on by NASA engineers. The planned Operational Life of the Phoenix Lander is 90 Martian days. Each Martian day is 40 minutes longer than an Earth Day.
The robotic digging arm. Left: at landing, with covering in place. Right: the next day, with covering pushed aside.
Surface Stereo Imager (SSI) built by the University of Arizona.
Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA).
Mars Descent Imager built by Malin Space Science Systems.
A prototype wet chemistry beaker showing some of the electrochemistry sensors on the sides of the beaker.
Illustration of how the wet chemistry lab onboard Phoenix mixes a Martian soil sample with water
The Thermal and Electrical Conductivity Probe (TECP) with four metal sensing needles mounted in a plastic head.
Meteorological Station (MET) built by the Canadian Space Agency.
Phoenix deployed and then imaged the MET weather mast that holds the wind-strength and direction-measuring telltale at a height of 2.3 m. This enhanced image shows wind from the northeast on Sol 3.
Plot of the minimum daily temperature measured by Phoenix
First operation of LIDAR on Mars; telescope (black tube) and laser window (smaller opening in fore-ground) can be seen.
Contour plot of second LIDAR operation. The colors show evolution of dust passing overhead with time (Orange=more dust, Blue=less dust)
Lidar operating (thin vertical beam at center right).
The "Phoenix DVD" on Mars.
The first two trenches dug by Phoenix in Martian soil. The trench on the right, informally called "Baby Bear", is the source of the first samples delivered to the onboard TEGA and the optical microscope for analysis.
Die-sized clumps of bright material in the enlarged "Dodo-Goldilocks" trench vanished over the course of four days, implying that they were composed of ice which sublimated following exposure.
Color versions of the photos showing ice sublimation, with the lower left corner of the trench enlarged in the insets in the upper right of the images.
Phoenix footpad image, taken over 15 minutes after landing to ensure any dust stirred up had settled.
One of the first surface images from Phoenix.
View underneath lander towards south foot pad, showing patchy exposures of a bright surface, possibly ice.