There is a nice video explainer of the mission here along with the rest of the story:

http://floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080523/NEWS02/805230332

 

Is anyone else watching the live NASA feed from JPL of the landing?

 

Here ya go

http://www.nasa.gov/

Look on the middle right of the page

 

It is also on the NASA channel if you have cable or satellite

 

And the Phoenix has landed on the surface of Mars.

 

There should be images sent back a bit later this evening.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/main/

 

I know :)

There should be images at 01:30 UTC (21:30 Eastern time)

 

I wish this mission was capable to doing more definitive test for life but that is going to be for future missions. :woot:

On a side note, the JPL team just answered Crunch's question. The earlier missions were to confirm that there was water on the planet and this mission was to find the most likely place to find water based on past studies. This craft was sent last because its life expectancy will be very brief as they predict that it will soon be covered in meter of frozen carbon dioxide.

 

The images are just in:

http://fawkes1.lpl.arizona.edu/gallery.php

 

I watched the live feed on NASA channel. The Discovery channel had a little lag in the feed.

It was very exciting !

 

Mars orbiter catches shot of Phoenix on descent

 

There is one in every crowd. :lol:

 

NASA has long been set on the idea of "following the water" in its search for the possibility of live on other planets.

The mission planners for Phoenix tried to set the lander down far enough away from the Mars polar caps (where the lander would not survive), but still in an area where frozen water might still be found beneath the soil.

This is one of today's images from Mars.

 

Salt or ice just beneath the surface