The NASA/JPL Phoenix lander has successfully completed EDL (entry, descent and landing) and has landed on the arctic plain of Mars. According to the flight engineers and everyone I'm watching at NASA, the descent went "better than we could have predicted" and the Phoenix touched down with just 1/4th a degree of tilt. As close to a perfect landing as one could imagine, and a thrill to listen to as Phoenix completed each of its "do or die" landing sequence milestones. Big congratulations tonight to everyone at NASA JPL, Lockheed Martin, and everywhere else that supported Phoenix.
This mission will:
The complement of the Phoenix spacecraft and its scientific instruments are ideally suited to uncover clues to the geologic history and biological potential of the Martian arctic. Phoenix will be the first mission to return data from either polar region providing an important contribution to the overall Mars science strategy "Follow the Water" and will be instrumental in achieving the four science goals of NASA's long-term Mars Exploration Program.
--Determine whether Life ever arose on Mars
--Characterize the Climate of Mars
--Characterize the Geology of Mars
--Prepare for Human Exploration
The Phoenix Mission has two bold objectives to support these goals, which are to (1) study the history of water in the Martian arctic and (2) search for evidence of a habitable zone and assess the biological potential of the ice-soil boundary.
And congrats to them - looks like it did.
Now how long before the Goreons start claiming that the emissions from the rockets are causing global warming on Mars? I'll put the over/under at 8-days and take "under".
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Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock.