The Phoenix Mars Lander twittered its final message tonight, notifying earthlings that it would shut down permanently after becoming frozen in the arctic plains of Mars. The lander, which first arrived at the Red Planet on May 25th 2008, detected water in early June and used its laser sensors to reveal evidence of a snowfall on the first of October. The Phoenix has been dutifully twittering to its followers about its explorations, challenges, and discoveries up until today, when storms blocked the lander's solar panels from recharging the its batteries, preventing NASA from repeated attempts to restart it. The final Latin phrase in the tweet: I came, I saw, I excavated.











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