I wasnt sure where to put this post, but, I was just watching MSNBC and breaking news came up. I guess they cant get ahold of the rover anymore. I wonder what happened to it.

[edit on 10-11-2008 by DroolsAlot]

[edit on 10-11-2008 by DroolsAlot]

Probably got into the middle of the dust storm and got all covered with dust, unable to recharge its battery it died.

Your a little late mate - www.abovetopsecret.com...

It is the Phoenix, not the Rovers..

[edit on 10/11/2008 by davidifty]

THats a definate possibility

Maybe the martians got sick of hiding from it and eventually just turned it off.

reply to post by davidifty

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Thats what I meant, either way, ibeat ya to it by 10 minutes

[edit on 10-11-2008 by DroolsAlot]

ok here is why



i thought they recontacted the Pheonix ?

this thread was originally titled ,' lost contact with the rovers', hence the reasoning behind posting this picture



[edit on 11-11-2008 by easynow]

reply to post by DroolsAlot

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It's winter. Too cold and dark to keep it going.
Phoenix lasted 78% longer than expected.

LOL, Now thats a funny picture HEHE

(I am forwarding my response to the other thread here as the other one has been closed, seeing how this is the original. I have changed it around a bit so it fits more appropriatley in this thread)



If you are looking for the reason why it has stopped working here is an article straight from the horses mouth.

www.nasa.gov...

They say that there is still troves of data yet to be deciphered and they expect to continue to learn new things from that data for years to come.


"11.10.08. -- NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has ceased communications after operating for more than five months. As anticipated, seasonal decline in sunshine at the robot's arctic landing site is not providing enough sunlight for the solar arrays to collect the power necessary to charge batteries that operate the lander's instruments."


Phoenix is just a machine, It is not perfect. It isnt like we can just go right over there and fix anything wrong with it or move it to a location where the solar panels pick up enough sun for it to work.

Here is a quote from Phoenix Principal investigator Peter Smith

"Phoenix has given us some surprises, and I'm confident we will be pulling more gems from this trove of data for years to come," said Phoenix Principal Investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona in Tucson.

You have nothing to look forward to but years of new info coming in.

Besides,It has already completed its mission. It has continued to work alot longer than they expected it too so they continued to do learn as much as they could before it finally did die.

That is what they do with all the rovers they have used. They use it and learn untill the machine doesnt work anymore.

After that they move on to the next project.

Dust

[edit on 10-11-2008 by gimme_some_truth]

One of these days it would be nice of those folks to start experimenting with atomic batteries, like the ones using tritium or nickel-63, to keep the machines going at least through the winter to be able to fire back up in the Martian springtime.

Might get a little more work out of their investment.

Wow, thanks for the link. One thing im curious about though after reading this.

"WASHINGTON -- NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has ceased communications after operating for more than five months. As anticipated, seasonal decline in sunshine at the robot's arctic landing site is not providing enough sunlight for the solar arrays to collect the power necessary to charge batteries that operate the lander's instruments."

This means that in some months to come, it will finally work again possibly? They didnt really mention anything about that.

reply to post by DroolsAlot

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I wonder that myself. Since it's using solar power, why is it unthinkable that by the end of the winter there, it'll start getting enough juice to start back up. Would be interesting to see if this is possible or not.

reply to post by DroolsAlot

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I don't think so, it may be possible, but the lander will be sitting there until the winter ends.
It may not have enough power at that point to restart, or be covered by dirt, damaged due to environment, or any number of problems.
May even be carried of by the natives.

reply to post by Nohup

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Don't know what drives the decision of what kind of power supply to use but radioisotope thermoelectric generators have been used on many missions.

The Mars Science Laboratory will be powered with an RTG.

[edit on 10-11-2008 by Phage]

Honestly I think its a bunch of BULL! Okay, yea it accomplished its so called "mission" and out last its expected life expectancy. But I for one don't believe it went "dead". They knew exactly what they were doing up their, and they were fully aware of the possibilities of the weather conditions.

I think they found some real funky *snip*up their and they don't want to let the people know. They found ice 'water' and now they know they can send man to populate it and start agriculture.

Any one who believes that it went ''DEAD'' must of taken the "Blue Pill" baby!

[edit on 10-11-2008 by king Pop!p]


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[edit on 12/11/08 by Jbird]

Disregard my previous

Now on with the discussion!!!

Sorry about that folks

Semper

[edit on 11/10/2008 by semperfortis]

You say that as if this is the first time this has happened. This isnt. Ths has happened to every single rover they have sent up their. They do what they can with them. They learn what they can.

You have to keep in mind, that Phoneix is a machine. machines are not perfect. Machines need regular maintanance and repairs. Machines dont last forever on their own.

Its not like we can just go right up their and do any neccasary repairs and continue.

These rovers dying is nothing new. We learn what we can untill it dies, then start work on a new one. As has been said their is still tons of data to go through that we can learn new things from.

SO by the time we run out of data to go through chances are there will be another rover on its way if not already there.

All due respect, not everything is a conspiracy

*Snip* Yes they were aware of the weather conditions, but I guess you haven't followed this..it was always anticipated that the Lander would die because its solar powered and when winter sets in it doesnt get as much power. So yes, it was always destined to go dead. It isnt a conspiracy, and the fact that you and other individuals like yourself are even discussing and postulating conspiracy theories with no evidence whats so ever to base your claims on, on something that we have known was going to happen since even before the lander was launched just shows the ignorance of some.

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[edit on 11/10/2008 by semperfortis]

reply to post by DroolsAlot

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Remember this? It made me think that they created the toy-line (years prior) just to put this movie trailer out.

YouTube Link