MARS 25 May 2008 NASA Phoenix Mars Lander due to land on Red Planet at site farther north than previous missions

NASA's Mars Phoenix Lander is due to touch down on an icy plain on the Red Planet after a 423-million-mile journey. It will be the first ever landing in the arctic region of Mars. Once there, it will dig with a robotic arm into the ice and run laboratory tests to determine if the chemical environment beneath might favor microbial life. Evidence of vast amounts of underground ice were uncovered at both poles of the planet by NASA's orbiting Mars Odyssey spacecraft in 2002.

Phoenix will also be expected to probe the history of the water in the ice and monitor the arctic weather on the planet.

If confirmed by Phoenix, the findings would raise the prospects that cold desert-like conditions on Mars might once have been warmer and favorable for some form of life. Water would prove a valuable resource for future human exploration as well.

The spacecraft also carries a rugged DVD that is designed to survive five centuries on the planet. It holds a digital library of 19th and 20th century literature and art featuring Mars and the names of 250,000 people from around the world who asked NASA to be included on it. UPDATED Apr/08

RELATED READING:

NASA Phoenix closes on Red Planet (Register 11 Apr 2008)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/11/phoenix_landing_site/

NASA's Phoenix Lander begins journey to Mars (Houston Chronicle 5 Aug 2007)
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5027186.html