The Mars mission undertaken by the Phoenix sent by NASA is coming to an end. Since it has exceeded the 90-day mark of its previous mission, the fading sunlight has made it really tough for its two solar arrays to provide sufficient energy.

The Phoenix had been sent with the actual mission to discover water ice buried beneath the barren arctic plains of Mars. But now the situation is different as the colder days on the planet has arrived making the sun dip completely below the horizon. The Phoenix has encountered such climate for the first time since its landing in May.

Back on 25th May when the phoenix landed in the northern Vastitas Borealis region of Mars, it began hunting for water ice with the help of a shovel-tipped robotic arm along with science tool kit. This kit included eight small ovens and a wet chemistry lab with four beakers, each the size of a teacup. Fortunately, the mission was accomplished successfully and the photographs are now available too.

A press release by Phoenix Project Manager Barry Goldstein of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said, “As we near what we originally expected to be the full length of the mission, we are all thrilled with how well the mission is going.”

The aim set by the Phoenix has been achieved successfully that included, chemically analyzing Martian water, which was done for the very first time, after the phoenix had made a sound landing in the northern polar region of Mars.

Now the scientists are trying to even answer a trickier question, that is whether the northern region of Mars is a habitable place or not. NASA made an announcement on July 31, that since the Phoenix can function with lower energy as well, the mission would continue its operations through 30th September.