Phoenix Lander Returns Promising Images [News]
Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - 16:21
in Astronomy & Space
Images sent back from the Red Planet by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander after its picture-perfect Sunday touchdown provide the first close-up views of a barren landscape honeycombed with cracks that may represent the effects of seasonal freezing and thawing of subsurface ice.NASA mission controllers cheered when Phoenix sent back radio signals confirming that it had successfully completed its 10-month, 422-million-mile (679-million-kilometer) journey to Mars, landing as expected Sunday evening in the arctic plains near the Red Planet's north pole. [More]