While Phoenix is still unrensponsive, news is that Mars’s Spirit is still alive and kicking, even if the dust problem covering the solar cell is still big.
NASA
Self-destruction Panel
“an officer manned these vehicle destruction switches in case the shuttle crossed the no-fly lines” “If something happens when it’s just off the pad, there’s only a couple of seconds [to react],” says Bryan O’Connor, a former shuttle commander and NASA’s chief of safety and mission assurance.” popularmechanics.com