Astronomy Picture of the Day 2008 May 26

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0805/230118main_phoenix_c800.jpg (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0805/230118main_phoenix.jpg) A New Horizon for Phoenix
Credit: Phoenix Mission Team (http://fawkes4.lpl.arizona.edu/index.php),NASA (http://www.nasa.gov/),JPL-Caltech, Univ. Arizona
Explanation: Thisflat horizon (http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA10690) stretches across the red planet as seen by the Phoenixspacecraft after yesterday's landing on Mars.Touchingdown (http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/05_25_landed_pr.php) shortly after 7:30pm Eastern Time, Phoenix madethe first successful (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploration_of_Mars#Mars_Curse)soft landing on Mars, using rockets to control its final speed, since theVikinglanders (http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/viking.html) in 1976.Launched (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070808.html) in August of 2007,Phoenix has now made the northernmost landingand is intended to explore the Martian arctic's potentiallyice-rich soil.The lander hasreturnedimages (http://fawkes4.lpl.arizona.edu/images.php?gID=0&cID=7) and data initially indicatingthat it is in excellent shape after a nearlyflawless descent (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080525.html).Newsupdates will be available (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/main/index.html) throughout the day.

Source (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080526.html)

I wish they would have made the Phoenix a little more mobile.:icon_confused: Maybe just super simple crawler legs, instead of being stuck in one spot. Oh well, they did a helluva job on landing it, so at least we didn't waste anymore of NASA's shoestring budget.

Latest Images (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/images/index.html) ;)