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Mars Phoenix Probe Successfully Launched

necro81 writes "The Mars Phoenix lander, built from the ashes of two earlier Mars missions, successfully launched atop a Delta II rocket from Canaveral this morning. The mission takes the 350-kg lander to northern latitudes (comparable to Greenland or Siberia) to investigate subsurface ice for the chemical precursors of life. The lander should arrive on Mars on May 25, 2008. 'NASA has never attempted to land a spacecraft on Mars at such a high northern latitude. A lander intended for the red planet's South Pole went silent immediately upon arrival in 1999. That failure, combined with the loss of the companion Mars orbiter, prompted NASA to cancel a 2001 lander mission. The parts from that scrapped mission were used for Phoenix, thus its name, which alludes to the mythological bird that rises from its own ashes.'"

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  1. Re:Great. Just great. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    The best way to feed the homeless is for the homeless to become productive enough in society to feed and shelter themselves. Science creates things, and adds value. Taking care of a person who doesn't care enough to take care of himself does not.