Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science » in reply to Supposedly Phoenix will eventually be covered with 3 feet of the white stuff

Two words - Thermal cycling

One word - No

Because of the large annual temperature cycles, differential expansion and contraction of different parts of the spacecraft will cause it to buckle and twist, rivets to pop, glue to come unglued, brittle parts including circuit boards to crack.

Even though the spacecraft was designed to survive interplanetary cruise, it will lack the solar-electric heaters that preserved its core functions and it will suffer from a buil-up of CO2 ice which will remove any gaps designed to allow flexing and stretching.

if it's still alive next Martian Spring, that would be a miracle. In a few decades, I expect a rather disaggregated pile of fragmented parts around the basic surviving skeleton of the Lander...

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