After a 422-million-mile journey that took 10 months, the Phoenix Mars Lander settled safely on Sunday onto a smooth plain in the Red Planet’s arctic region, according to announcements from NASA and the University of Arizona.
The spacecraft sent back its first images, showing the thin rocky soil that it will dig through in an effort to reach ice beneath. The aim of the mission is to analyze the soil and ice to determine whether this part of Mars was hospitable to life.
The spacecraft and its instruments were built by NASA, Lockheed Martin, and several university partners. Scientists and engineers will run the mission from an operations center at the University of Arizona, making this the first time a Mars mission is run from a university. —Richard Monastersky
