Click on the image for the animationNASA's Phoenix Mars Lander will open its solar arrays 20 minutes after it touches down on the surface of Mars. This ensures that any dust kicked up during the landing will not settle in on the arrays.
This illustration is part of the animation featured above.
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.
