Click on image for animation

This animation simulates Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter using the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera to take a picture of the Phoenix lander roughly 22 hours after landing. The animation concludes with the HiRISE image showing the parachute attached to the back shell (bottom), the heat shield (right center), and the lander itself (top).

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.