First images sent back from latest Mars mission
The latest images from Mars
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Monday, 26, May 2008 07:33
The first images have been sent back from Nasa's latest Mars mission.
The Mars Phoenix lander touched down on the north side of the Red Planet at around 00:50 BST this morning after a 423 mile journey from Earth.
The spacecraft will now begin to dig beneath the surface of the planet to search for water-ice to help establish whether any form of life could exist on Mars.
Images began to be sent back to Nasa scientists this morning showing pictures of the planet's 'Artic plain', a region never seen in detail before.
The images also confirmed that the space probe's solar arrays had unfurled successfully once it had landed.
"In my dreams, it couldn't have gone as perfectly as it did tonight," the BBC quotes Barry Goldstein, Phoenix project manager, as saying.
The Mars Phoenix spacecraft will shortly begin its three-month mission where it will use a robotic arm to dig below Mars' topsoil and collect samples for scientific analysis.
"The main goal of the mission is to get below the surface of Mars to where we are almost certain there is water," Dr Tom Pike from Imperial College told BBC News.
"Water, of course, is of critical importance because it is one of the building blocks - one of the essential habitats we need - for life."