Winds were strong enough to cause about a half a centimeter (.19 inch) of
motion of a solar panel on NASA's Phoenix Mars lander when the lander's
Surface Stereo Imager took this picture on Aug. 31, 2008, during the 96th
Martian day since landing.
The lander's telltale wind gauge has been indicating wind speeds of about
4 meters per second (9 miles per hour) during late mornings at the site.
These conditions were anticipated and the wind is not expected to do any
harm to the lander.
The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf
of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin
Space Systems, Denver.