The Phoenix Mars Lander touched down on the surface of the Red Planet on Sunday, making the first soft landing of a spacecraft since 1976. A soft landing is one in which the craft settles onto the surface, rather than parachuting down and bumping or crashing into the surface. This is a wonderful accomplishment for NASA and the United States, as it puts an interactive spacecraft on the Martian surface that will be able to measure its surroundings, focused especially on drilling below the surface of the planet to the arctic fields that lay beneath, chock full of subsurface water that may have life in it - or at least evidence that life once existed on Mars.
You can keep track of the Phoenix Mars Lander Mission through the official homepage from NASA, found by clicking here. NASA also has put together a fun, interactive model of the Lander so we can all learn a bit more about what each part of the craft does - click here to access it. As you surf around the NASA site, you'll find plenty of images and video that will fascinate you for the duration of the trip!
Matt
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