NASA to find out if Phoenix Lander still working

BEIJING, Jan. 20 (Xinhuanet) -- NASA is to find out whether its Mars exploration spacecraft, the Phoenix Lander, is still working or not, according to news reports on Wednesday.

The Phoenix Lander was landed on Mars on May 2008 in looking for possible lives. After almost half a year of searching, the spacecraft has presumably ended its own life.

To continue its researching, NASA has now begun to make new efforts to know whether the Phoenix Lander is still in effect.

"We have no expectations that Phoenix has survived...but we certainly want to have a look," said Chad Edwards, chief telecommunications engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

NASA started Mars exploration from early as 1964 and has 46 years of exploring experience until this year.