spacetoday.net: Phoenix ready for Mars landing

Posted: Thu, May 15, 2008, 6:33 AM ET (1033 GMT)
Phoenix Mars lander illustration (Univ. of Arizona)

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander is set to land on the surface of the Red Planet next weekend, project officials said this week. Phoenix will touch down on May 25th in the north polar regions of the planet to begin a three-month mission to study the region. The spacecraft is equipped with a robotic arm to scoop up soil samples, as well as perhaps unearth layers of subsurface ice, to help determine if the area could have once supported primitive life. The spacecraft, based on a planned 2001 Mars lander that was canceled after the loss of Mars Polar Lander in 1999, is in good condition and on course; a planned trajectory correction maneuver earlier this month was skipped because it was not necessary.