Phoenix's wings have been catastrophically clipped.
The Mars lander has lost its protruding solar panels, leading NASA to declare it officially dead.
In recent weeks, NASA has been trying to revive the lander after losing contact in November 2008 as the Martian winter approached. The likelihood of success was slim.
Now images taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show it is casting a shadow with a different shape to when it was last active. Accumulated dust can explain this in part, but mission scientists say the main reason is that the solar arrays that powered the lander have been broken off or bent, rendering Phoenix useless.
Like wings, the panels extended out from either side of the lander. Large amounts of carbon dioxide ice probably built up on them during the winter, causing the damage.
Despite 61 fly-bys last week, the orbiter failed to hear a radio transmission from Phoenix.
(Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona)
"The weight of carbon-dioxide ice has bent or broken the Mars Phoenix rover's solar panels"
Sorry to be pedantic, but Phoenix is not a rover.