Mars Phoenix, NASA's immensely successful robotic lander, is on her its last legs.
Two days ago, with winter already threatening to coat the lander in carbon dioxide, an ill-timed dust storm sent Mars Phoenix into hibernation as the solar energy hitting the bot's photovoltaic panels fell too far.
NASA will make one last try to power the lander up this weekend, but it's likely that within days, Mars Phoenix's life will come to an end.
To mark this exciting, crowd-pleasing, Tweeting trip to the Martian north pole, we thought it'd be fun to mark the occasion with a Mars Phoenix Twitter-style epitaph contest. That means that these particular virtual headstones must be under 140 characters. Beyond that, it's up to you how you want to memorialize the mission.
And it's not just for pride: The voice of @MarsPhoenix, Veronica McGregor, has promised Wired Science official mission gear for the top three entries in the contest. Submit now, you've only got until Monday at 9 AM, Pacific time. Check back then to see if you've won and claim your prize! *UPDATE, MONDAY: We've extended the cost through noon today. *
Submit your Mars Phoenix Epitaph:
Vote on @MarsPhoenix Twitter Epitaphs:
See Also:
Image: Courtesy of NASA/JPL/University of Arizona.
WiSci 2.0: Alexis Madrigal's Twitter , Google Reader feed, and webpage; Wired Science on Facebook.
