Planetary Science

Mars Phoenix

Lander · Competed · PI-led · Launched on August 4, 2007 · Completed · LCC: $536M/$869M (2025 $)Life-cycle cost: NASA’s reported cost to build, launch, and operate a mission through its prime mission, plus documented partner contributions, in 2025 dollars. Extended missions are not included. Methods · Wikipedia

Scope Active Mission WindowActivePapers published from the first full month after science operations begin through two years after the mission ends. Citations are counted through the third calendar year after each paper appears. For Phoenix, papers published June 1, 2008 to December 1, 2010. Methods LifetimeLifetimeEvery tracked publication to date, with every citation to date. For Phoenix, papers published from 2008 to November 3, 2026. Methods
Tracked publicationsTracked publications: peer-reviewed papers we found that name the mission or its instruments in their titles, abstracts, or keywords. Papers that used the data without naming it are missed. Methods236
CitationsCitations: every citation these publications have drawn to date. Older missions have had longer to collect them. Methods10,450
Citation indices
h-indexh-index: the largest h such that h papers have at least h citations each. It only grows with time, so older missions score higher. Methods53
g-indexg-index: the largest g for which the g most-cited papers together hold at least g² citations. Like the h-index, but it lets the most-cited papers count for more. Methods92
m-indexm-index: a mission’s h-index divided by the years since its first peer-reviewed paper. It falls every 1 January even when nothing else changes; the figure shown is as of November 3, 2026. It also discounts the long operating life that larger missions paid for. Methods2.8
toritori (total research impact, from SciX): for every paper citing one of the mission’s papers, 1 divided by the citing paper’s reference count times the cited paper’s author count, summed, with self-citations removed. It favors citations from papers with short reference lists and from outside the mission’s own authors. Computed over the tracked citation graph, which can be slightly incomplete. Always over every tracked publication to date, whichever scope is chosen. Methods55
riqriq (research impact quotient): 1,000 times the square root of tori, divided by the years since the mission’s first paper. A rate, not a total, so it does not keep growing with age the way the h-index and tori do. Like tori, always over every tracked publication to date. Methods391

Publications and citations by year (lifetime)

Publications per yearCumulative citations

Institutional contributions (lifetime)The institutions SciX lists for each paper’s authors, as printed on the paper, located through the Research Organization Registry. A square counts a paper once, however many of its authors worked there. Methods

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Tracked publications over the lifetime (236)

All publications CSV · JSON

  1. Detection of Perchlorate and the Soluble Chemistry of Martian Soil at the Phoenix Lander Site

    Hecht, M. H., 2009, Sci

    915 lifetime citations

  2. Eight-year climatology of dust optical depth on Mars

    Montabone, L., 2015, Icar

    437 lifetime citations

  3. H₂O at the Phoenix Landing Site

    Smith, P. H., 2009, Sci

    405 lifetime citations

  4. Ultrahigh resolution topographic mapping of Mars with MRO HiRISE stereo images: Meter-scale slopes of candidate Phoenix landing sites

    Kirk, R. L., 2008, JGRE

    330 lifetime citations

  5. Evidence for Calcium Carbonate at the Mars Phoenix Landing Site

    Boynton, W. V., 2009, Sci

    293 lifetime citations

  6. Reanalysis of the Viking results suggests perchlorate and organics at midlatitudes on Mars

    Navarro-González, Rafael, 2010, JGRE

    287 lifetime citations

  7. Thermal contraction crack polygons on Mars: Classification, distribution, and climate implications from HiRISE observations

    Levy, Joseph, 2009, JGRE

    186 lifetime citations

  8. Atmospheric origins of perchlorate on Mars and in the Atacama

    Catling, D. C., 2010, JGRE

    180 lifetime citations

  9. Stability of perchlorate hydrates and their liquid solutions at the Phoenix landing site, Mars

    Chevrier, Vincent F., 2009, GeoRL

    173 lifetime citations

  10. Mojave Mars simulant—Characterization of a new geologic Mars analog

    Peters, Gregory H., 2008, Icar

    167 lifetime citations

  11. Mars Water-Ice Clouds and Precipitation

    Whiteway, J. A., 2009, Sci

    160 lifetime citations

  12. Ground ice at the Phoenix Landing Site: Stability state and origin

    Mellon, Michael T., 2009, JGRE

    157 lifetime citations

  13. Evidence of martian perchlorate, chlorate, and nitrate in Mars meteorite EETA79001: Implications for oxidants and organics

    Kounaves, Samuel P., 2014, Icar

    149 lifetime citations

  14. The origins of perchlorate in the Martian soil

    Carrier, Brandi L., 2015, GeoRL

    135 lifetime citations

  15. Geochemistry of Carbonates on Mars: Implications for Climate History and Nature of Aqueous Environments

    Niles, Paul B., 2013, SSRv

    133 lifetime citations

  16. Identification of the perchlorate parent salts at the Phoenix Mars landing site and possible implications

    Kounaves, Samuel P., 2014, Icar

    127 lifetime citations

  17. Thermal contraction crack polygons on Mars: A synthesis from HiRISE, Phoenix, and terrestrial analog studies

    Levy, Joseph S., 2010, Icar

    123 lifetime citations

  18. Possible physical and thermodynamical evidence for liquid water at the Phoenix landing site

    Rennó, Nilton O., 2009, JGRE

    113 lifetime citations

  19. Initial results from the thermal and electrical conductivity probe (TECP) on Phoenix

    Zent, Aaron P., 2010, JGRE

    111 lifetime citations

  20. The formation of sulfate, nitrate and perchlorate salts in the martian atmosphere

    Smith, Megan L., 2014, Icar

    111 lifetime citations

How we found these papers

We searched NASA’s Science Explorer (SciX) for peer-reviewed articles naming Phoenix in the title, abstract or keywords; standard filters drop articles that are not peer-reviewed and magazine pieces.

((=abs:"Phoenix lander" OR =abs:"Phoenix landers" OR =abs:"Phoenix landing" OR =abs:"Mars Phoenix" OR =abs:"Phoenix Mars" OR =abs:"Phoenix Robotic Arm" OR =abs:"Phoenix MET" OR (abs:(Mars OR Martian) AND (=abs:"Phoenix mission" OR =abs:"Phoenix Scout" OR =abs:"Phoenix site" OR =abs:"Phoenix lidar" OR =abs:"detected by Phoenix" OR =abs:"measured by Phoenix" OR =abs:"observed by Phoenix" OR =abs:"Phoenix surface pressure" OR =title:Phoenix OR =abs:"Surface Stereo Imager" OR (=abs:"Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer" AND =abs:Phoenix) OR =abs:"Wet Chemistry Lab" OR =abs:"Wet Chemistry Laboratory" OR =abs:"Thermal and Electrical Conductivity Probe" OR =abs:"Microscopy, Electrochemistry, and Conductivity Analyzer" OR abs:TEGA OR abs:MECA OR abs:TECP OR abs:WCL OR (=abs:Phoenix AND (abs:SSI OR abs:RAC OR abs:MARDI OR =abs:lidar OR =abs:"MET station" OR =abs:"surface pressure"))))) AND NOT bibstem:(JSpRo OR PhT)) AND property:refereed AND doctype:article AND pubdate:[2008-06 TO 2040-01] AND NOT bibstem:("A&R" OR "ACPD" OR "AIASJ" OR "AMTD" OR "AeAm" OR "AirSp" OR "AsNow" OR "AsUAI" OR "AvWST" OR "BGD" OR "C&E" OR "C&T" OR "CAPJ" OR "CliPD" OR "E&S" OR "ENews" OR "ESDD" OR "ESSDD" OR "ESuDD" OR "GID" OR "GMDD" OR "GeCAS" OR "HESSD" OR "IrAJ" OR "JCos" OR "JRASC" OR "LAstr" OR "MNSSA" OR "Met" OR "NHESD" OR "NPGD" OR "NewSc" OR "OcScD" OR "Orion" OR "PhT" OR "PhTea" OR "PhuZ" OR "PhyOJ" OR "PhyW" OR "PlR" OR "SOILD" OR "SciAm" OR "SpFl" OR "TCD" OR "ZemVs")

Open in SciX

Added after review (4)

  1. Chlorate salts and solutions on Mars Chlorate modelling to explain Phoenix Wet Chemistry Lab sensor responses. Decision 🤖
  2. The origins of perchlorate in the Martian soil Perchlorate-production experiments explaining the perchlorate measured by Phoenix. Decision 🤖
  3. Empirical Estimates of Martian Surface Pressure in Support of the Landing of Mars Science Laboratory Surface-pressure estimate for MSL landing built partly on Phoenix pressure data. Decision 🤖
  4. Detecting secular climate change on Mars Compares Viking and Phoenix surface-pressure data to test for climate change. Decision 🤖

Removed after review (17)

  1. SOLID3: A Multiplex Antibody Microarray-Based Optical Sensor Instrument for In Situ Life Detection in Planetary Exploration Describes a different life-detection instrument; cites Phoenix only for a soil perchlorate level. Decision 🤖
  2. 2011ITPDS..22..608F Computer-science paper on MapReduce software named Mars and Phoenix; unrelated. Decision 🤖
  3. 2017SpPol..42...41B Public forums held in Phoenix, Arizona; unrelated to the Phoenix lander. Decision 🤖
  4. 2018JGRE..123.2920H Laboratory study for Curiosity's SAM instrument; Phoenix is not part of the study. Decision 🤖
  5. Operation of pneumatically-actuated membrane-based microdevices for in situ analysis of extraterrestrial organic molecules after prolonged storage and in multiple orientations with respect to Earth's gravitational field Storage test of a prototype organic-analysis microdevice; reports no Phoenix results. Decision 🤖
  6. 2019IJAsB..18..562F Describes a new organic-analysis technique; mentions Phoenix only as a past mission. Decision 🤖
  7. 2019Life....9...70G Describes a proposed oxidant-detection instrument; mentions Phoenix only as heritage. Decision 🤖
  8. 2020AsBio..20.1151H Planetary protection for the InSight mission; mentions Phoenix only as lander heritage. Decision 🤖
  9. 2020JGRE..12506173C Laboratory study for Curiosity's SAM instrument; Phoenix is not part of the study. Decision 🤖
  10. 2021RemS...13..419P Drone lidar survey using a commercial "Phoenix LiDAR" system; unrelated. Decision 🤖
  11. 2021pds..data...28W Data-archive citation record listing many missions; not a research paper. Decision 🤖
  12. 2022P&SS..22305590H Describes the Mars 2020 humidity sensor; mentions Phoenix only as an earlier measurement. Decision 🤖
  13. 2011JSpRo..48..705D Introduction to a journal special issue; not a research paper. Decision 🤖
  14. The Biological Oxidant and Life Detection (BOLD) mission: A proposal for a mission to Mars Proposal for a different Mars mission; mentions Phoenix only as an example. Decision 🤖
  15. Multiuser Receiver Architectures for Space Modems Design of future relay radio architectures; mentions Phoenix only as a past mission. Decision 🤖
  16. Radiometric Calibration Targets for the Mastcam-Z Camera on the Mars 2020 Rover Mission Instrument description of the Mars 2020 Mastcam-Z calibration targets; Phoenix is mentioned only as design heritage. Decision 🤖
  17. Phoenix Lander Revealing a Younger, Livelier Mars Science staff news article reporting mission results; a news item, not research. Decision 🤖