NASA listen for Mars lander

NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter will listen for possible, though improbable, radio transmissions from the Phoenix Mars Lander, which completed five months of studying an arctic Martian site in November 2008.

The solar-powered Pheonix lander transmits telemetry and data on 401.58 MHz, and receives commands at 437.1 MHz.

It operated two months longer than its three-month prime mission during summer on northern Mars before the seasonal ebb of sunshine ended its work.

Since then, Phoenix's landing site has gone through autumn, winter and part of spring. The lander's hardware was not designed to survive the temperature extremes and ice-coating load of an arctic Martian winter.

In the extremely unlikely case that Phoenix survived the winter, it is expected to follow instructions programmed on its computer. If systems still operate, once its solar panels generate enough electricity to establish a positive energy balance, the lander would periodically try to communicate with any available Mars relay orbiters in an attempt to reestablish contact with Earth. During each communications attempt, the lander would alternately use each of its two radios and each of its two antennas.

Odyssey will pass over the Phoenix landing site approximately 10 times each day during three consecutive days of listening this month and two longer listening campaigns in February and March.

Further details at:
NASA to Check for Unlikely Winter Survival of Mars Lander
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/news/
phoenix20100111.html

UHF Relay Antenna Measurements On Phoenix Mars Lander Mockup
http://trs-new.jpl.nasa.gov/dspace/bitstream/2014/
40721/1/06-1936.pdf