Phoenix Telltale Movie with Clouds, Sol 103
NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander's telltale catches a breeze as clouds move over the landing site on Sol 103 (Sept. 7, 2008), the 103rd Martian day since landing.
Phoenix's Surface Stereo Imager took this series of images during daily telltale monitoring around 3 p.m. local solar time and captured the clouds moving over the landing site.
Phoenix can measure wind speed and direction by imaging the telltale, which is about about 10 centimeters (4 inches) tall. The telltale was built by the University of Aarhus, Denmark.
The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.
Photojournal Note: As planned, the Phoenix lander, which landed May 25, 2008 23:53 UTC, ended communications in November 2008, about six months after landing, when its solar panels ceased operating in the dark Martian winter.