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Frost seen on Snow White Trench

Dec. 15, 2008
NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander took this shadow-enhanced false color image of frost on the 'Snow White' trench, on the eastern end of Phoenix's digging area taken on Oct. 20, 2008.

The Surface Stereo Imager (SSI) on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander took this shadow-enhanced false color image of the "Snow White" trench, on the eastern end of Phoenix's digging area. The image was taken on Sol 144, or the 144th day of the mission, Oct. 20, 2008. Temperatures measured on Sol 151, the last day weather data were received, showed overnight lows of minus128 Fahrenheit (minus 89 Celsius) and day time highs in the minus 50 F (minus 46 C) range. The last communication from the spacecraft came on Nov. 2, 2008.

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.

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