The Phoenix Mission was the first Scout class mission. It consisted of a single lander with associated instrumentation. Phoenix was launched on August 4, 2007 and landed on the northern plains of Mars (68.22 degrees N, 234.25 degrees East Areocentric) on May 25, 2008. The Lander operated until November 2, 2008, performing on the Martian surface for 152 sols (sols are Martian days, 1 sol equaling 24.66 hours). The Surface Phase constituted the primary and extended missions, and focused on testing the hypothesis that water ice exists beneath a thin soil cover, evaluating evidence for habitability zones, and monitoring weather during the northern summer. Hence, inferring the presence of water and its interaction with the Martian soil was of cr... ...Show More
urn:nasa:pds:context:investigation:mission.phoenix
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