It’s Cold There!

North Polar Winter on Mars

Those of us up here in the northern part of the U.S. (and the world) are no doubt rubbing our hands together to keep them warm now that the New Years’ cold temps are here for a while. At my place it got up to -8.3C (17F) today and we could feel every bit of it when we went out to shovel the snow.

However, that -8.3 C is positively balmy compared to what the now-silent Mars Phoenix Lander is experiencing at its perch in Mars’s frigid north polar region right now.  The HIRISE blog posted the image below today, showing the Phoenix Lander sitting lonely and cold amid the frozen wastes as seen by the HIRISE camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. It’s mapping the surface of Mars from orbit and the team still takes a look at the Phoenix lander every chance it gets. The temperatures Phoenix is experiencing are much, much colder than anywhere here on Earth right now — probably hovering around -140 C or thereabouts (-220 F).  I don’t know about you, but just looking at that scene makes me feel toasty and warm at -8.3 C!

Phoenix in Winter
Phoenix in Winter

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