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The Phoenix Mars Lander appears darker, smaller, and with a truncated shadow in 2010, compared with a picture taken from orbit in 2008. An illustration shows how the shadow should appear when the craft and both its solar panels are intact. Diagram courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona Richard A. Lovett for National Geographic News Published May 25, 2010 The lights have officially gone out for NASAs Phoenix Mars Lander. After several unsuccessful attempts to reestablish communication, a picture of the lander taken from orbit shows at least part of the crafts solar panels has broken off. As seen in the pictures above, Phoenix shines with a bluish tint in a shot taken July 20, 2008, by the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. In a picture taken May 7, 2010, the lander is darkened by a covering of reddish material. Phoenix now appears smaller, and its shadow has changed shape. We assumed that one of the most likely things that would cause it to perish over the winter would be ice buildup on the solar arrays, causing them to collapse, said Barry Goldstein, project manager for the Phoenix team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The image confirms that this is exactly what happened. | 
