Mars lander loses day of work after data glitch

By ALICIA CHANG , AP Science Writer, Space & Earth science / Space Exploration

This image released by NASA and acquired by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander shows a new trench called "Snow White," in a patch of Martian soil near the center of a polygonal surface feature nicknamed "Chesire Cat." Excavation near Mars' north pole was halted Wednesday as engineers fixed a glitch on the Phoenix lander that caused the partial loss of science data. (AP Photo/NASA/JPL/CalTech)

(AP) -- The Phoenix lander stopped digging soil near Mars' north pole Wednesday as engineers on Earth worked to fix a glitch that caused the loss of a day's worth of photos.

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Posted by superhuman 06/19/08 13:05

Rank: 4.3/5 after 3 votes

No picking on "America's best and brightest"! haha

PieR maybe you should stop issuing those news constantly and instead focus on getting the job done and report the final result: ice or salt?

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Posted by RogerB34 06/19/08 16:20

Rank: 1/5 after 1 vote

Looks like the betting is hedging towards salt. That would be a downer.

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Posted by Quantum_Conundrum 06/19/08 23:52

Rank: 3/5 after 2 votes

Phoenix is a 420 million dollar piece of garbage.

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Posted by Mercury_01 06/20/08 11:16

Not rated yet.

For once, I agree with you QC. This progect is a failing exercise it repitition. We performed this experiment way back in 1976, only then it worked. This type of science is appropreate for schoolchildren and the rest of the masses. NASA was formed as a front to the real science that is taking place behind closed doors.