* Astronomy

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RE: The Phoenix lander

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Touchdown! Nasa's Phoenix Space Craft Lands On Mars

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ESA completed a key step in its ongoing support to NASA's Phoenix mission, when signals from the Phoenix Mars lander recorded by Mars Express were successfully received at ESA's Space Operations Centre (ESOC), Darmstadt, Germany. NASA has just made the first few images available.
The signals from Phoenix were monitored by Mars Express between 01:21 - 01:47 CEST on 26 May during the lander's critical entry, descent and landing (EDL) phase. They were received by the European spacecraft via the Mars Express Lander Communications (MELACOM) system.

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Phoenix Landing: Nerves and Joy

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This image, one of the first captured by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander, shows the vast plains of the northern polar region of Mars.

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Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

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This approximate-colour image shows a polygonal pattern in the ground near NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander.
The image was taken by the spacecraft's Surface Stereo Imager, shortly after landing. The image was taken using, a violet, 450-nanometer filter and an infrared, 750-nanometer filter.

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Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

Phoenix touched down on the Red Planet at 4:53 p.m. Pacific Time, May 25, 2008, in an arctic region called Vastitas Borealis, at 68 degrees north latitude, 234 degrees east longitude.

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Radio signals received at 4:53:44 p.m. Pacific Time (7:53:44 p.m. Eastern Time) confirmed the Phoenix Mars Lander had survived its difficult final descent and touchdown 15 minutes earlier. The signals took that long to travel from Mars to Earth at the speed of light.

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NASA's Phoenix spacecraft landed in the northern polar region of Mars Sunday to begin three months of examining a site chosen for its likelihood of having frozen water within reach of the lander's robotic arm.

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NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander was targeted to land in a flat valley in the arctic plains of Mars, at the centre of the blue ellipse

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Credit NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

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This image mosaic was acquired by the surface stereo imager right instrument of the Phoenix spacecraft on the surface of Mars. It was taken between 2008-05-26T00:19:03.098 and 2008-05-26T00:19:03.274 local time. This mosaic is presented in a cylindrical projection.

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Credit NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona