Phoenix Mission to be Extended by 5 Weeks

Due to the good condition of the Phoenix lander NASA has decided to extend its mission5 weeks beyond its original 3 month assignment.  So the probe will run until September 30th.  With the recent discovery of water ice, the probe will certainly have a lot of data to collect during this time extension.

As for after its mission, Phoenix will shut down with a subroutine to wake it up in the spring if it lasts through the winter.  While having this extra time would be fantastic, Phoenix has already helped us understand Martian soil and weather better than we did before.

Over the next few days I will be working on a post gathering all of the scientific discoveries and the big steps taken by Phoenix so far.